Sims Finances Preferred Equity Investment in Start-up Assisted Living Community

FAIRFIELD, CT– HJ Sims (Sims), is pleased to announce the successful completion of a $3,800,000 financing in July 2017 for The Watermark at Continental Ranch (Continental Ranch), a proposed 99-unit assisted living and memory care community in Marana, AZ, which is a suburb of Tucson.

Sims provided financing for the development of Watermark, which will be owned and developed by a joint venture between affiliates of Link Development, LLC (Link) and Watermark Retirement Communities, LLC, which will also operate Continental Ranch. Link is an experienced developer of senior housing with a strong track record; Continental Ranch will be Link’s fourth senior housing development in Arizona. Watermark is an experienced developer and operator, currently managing 40 senior housing communities in 21 states.

Sims structured a preferred equity investment that was classified as contributed capital on behalf of the JV Owners, meeting regulatory requirements for the senior construction lender. The investment was structured with a capped all-in return to the preferred equity holders, providing an attractive upside to the JV Owners upon repayment of the preferred equity.

A new entity, LW Development Funding I, LLC (Sims Issuer), was formed to issue $3.8 million of taxable bonds. The bonds were successfully sold to Sims’ high net worth accredited investors. The proceeds from the bonds were used by the Sims Issuer to fund the preferred equity investment to the JV Owners. The financing marks Sims’ fourth successful financing with Watermark Retirement Communities and second successful financing with Link Development.

“This is now our fourth transaction with Sims, and we have evaluated numerous others. They are consummate professionals and a pleasure to work with, bringing a level of expertise to each transaction that provides significant value to the underwriting process and gives an additional layer of comfort as we finalize projections and move to closing. I look forward to our next transaction,” said Bryan Schachter, Director of Strategic Analysis, Watermark Retirement Communities.

“We are excited to have HJ SIMS as partners in our Marana, Arizona project. My recent experience was pretty much a duplicate of the past interactions – HJ SIMS is a great partners for so many reasons. Not only do I find them good to interact with but they come to the table with a “get it done” attitude, they are hardworking, knowledgeable and transparent throughout the entire process from start to finish.

With the amount of experience they have in the seniors housing industry, they bring ideas pertaining to structure that I find beneficial and I believe one more ingredient to a successful outcome. I look forward to more projects with HJ SIMS’ involvement down the road,” said Ron Ziebart, Link Development Inc.

For more about Financed Right® solutions, please contact Jeff Sands at 203-418-9002 | jsands@hjsims.com or Curtis King at 512-519-5003 | cking@hjsims.com.

ABOUT HJ SIMS: Founded in 1935 on Wall Street, HJ Sims is a privately held investment bank and wealth management firm with $2.2 billion of assets under management. HJ Sims is one of the country’s oldest underwriters of tax-exempt and taxable bonds, having raised $22 billion for projects throughout the US. The firm is headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, with investment banking, private client wealth management and trading nation-wide. Pershing LLC, a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, is custodian of all client assets. HJ Sims is not affiliated with Watermark. http://www.hjsims.com/ourstory. Investments involve risk, including the possible fluctuation of principal. Member FINRA, SIPC. Follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn.