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Sims Mortgage Funding Closes $19,873,000 For Two Hud-Insured Lean Loans To Recapitalize Skilled Nursing Homes In Rhode Island

Partnered Right
  • Athena Health Care Systems successfully refinanced two skilled nursing homes it acquired with bank debt in 2013 and 2014.
Structured Right
  • The two new loans were incorporated into an existing Master Lease that covered two other Athena nursing homes, simplifying the overall deal structure for its Rhode Island properties.
Executed Right
  • Sims Mortgage Funding underwrote two HUD-insured loans that covered 100% of the cost to refinance, obviating the need for equity.
Financed Right
  • Loan proceeds were maximized by reallocating the bank debt on the basis of current appraised values, not the loan amounts established in 2013 and 2014.
Partnered Right

Athena Health Care Systems, one of New England’s largest owners and operators, acquired Orchard View Manor in September 2013 and Heatherwood in July 2014 with conventional bank financing and preferred equity issued by HJ Sims. The bank debt was scheduled to mature in 2020 and 2021.

Athena turned to Sims Mortgage Funding to obtain HUD-insured loans well in advance of the maturities of its current debt because it wanted to eliminate refinancing risk and take advantage of current low, long-term and fixed interest rates.

Structured Right

Sims Mortgage Funding underwrote two separate loans insured under the LEAN Section 232/223(f) program to refinance the existing debt, which included swap termination fees. The loans also provided a source of funding for capital expenditures and reserves.

Because Athena already had two other HUD-insured projects located in Rhode Island that were financed by Sims Mortgage Funding in 2014, Sims was able to include the Heatherwood and Orchard View loans in the Master Lease structure that had been established in 2014.

Executed Right

As a result, the HUD-insured loans represented 100% of the cost to refinance the projects and featured 35-year terms. The Orchard View and Heatherwood loans were underwritten at loans-to-value of 74% and 77% respectively, and had debt-service coverage ratios of 3.16 and 2.92 respectively.

Sims Mortgage Funding also coordinated the closing of both loans simultaneously, which was a mandatory condition of the bank loan refinancing.

Financed Right®

Changes in the appraised values of the projects since their acquisition dates resulted in a “mismatch” in the amounts of debt that each project could support by the new values. However, Sims Mortgage Funding was able to maximize HUD-insured loan proceeds by reallocating the bank debt to each property on the basis of the updated appraised values.

HUD approved the Orchard View and Heatherwood loans about three weeks apart. Despite this lag, Sims Mortgage Funding was able to lock in interest rates and terms at the same time.

Heatherwood and Orchard View are the seventh and eighth HUD-insured financings Sims Mortgage Funding has completed for Athena since 2013.

For additional information, please contact Kerrie Tomasiewicz at 201-307-9383 or ktomasiewicz@simsmortgage.com.

Sims Mortgage Funding