Seniors Housing Business is the magazine that helps you navigate the evolution of the seniors housing industry.
Issue link: https://seniorshousingbusiness.epubxp.com/i/484276
60 www.seniorshousingbusiness.com Seniors Housing Business n February-March 2015 n Company profle 'There's no solution we can't provide' Grandbridge Real Estate Capital's subsidiary relationship with BB&T; gives the lender a broad platform for seniors housing fnancing. By John Nelson In early November of last year, ROC Seniors Housing Fund Man- ager, a subsidiary of Bridge Investment Group Partners, was look- ing to fnance its acquisition of Thunderbird Retirement Resort before the end of the year. Fast-forward 43 days after applying for a loan with Grandbridge Real Estate Capital, ROC Seniors had $21.2 million in which to fund its purchase of the 345-unit seniors housing community in Phoenix. As a lender to the seniors housing industry, Richard Thomas is confdent that his seniors housing and healthcare team at Grand- bridge Real Estate Capital can quickly meet any demand from a qualifed borrower. The Charlotte-based company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Branch Banking and Trust Co. (BB&T;) and is fully integrated with the bank's national footprint. Having access to the bank's balance sheet is a nice chip to have for Grandbridge when looking to source deals for prospective borrowers. The balance sheet through BB&T; Real Estate Funding's struc- tured loan program was instrumental for Thomas and his team to close on the Thunderbird Retirement Resort acquisition loan so quickly. "When we walk in the door, we do have a balance sheet behind us, which means we have money in our pockets so to speak," says Thomas, who serves as the senior vice president of Grandbridge's seniors housing and healthcare fnance group based in Atlanta. Grandbridge works very closely with BB&T;, which held $186.8 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2014. The Grandbridge offcers col- laborate with the BB&T; bankers to source debt on behalf of BB&T;, its clients and Grandbridge's clients. "As the bankers source their opportunities and they look for ways to help their clients, they would work with a Grandbridge offcer," says Thomas. "In most cases, bankers with a seniors housing opportunity would call my team to assist in those efforts." Grandbridge's seniors team offers construction, nonrecourse, acquisition/bridge and permanent fnancing to seniors housing owners across the nation. Thomas leads a team of four in Atlanta, which fnanced roughly $500 million in seniors housing deals in 2014 alone. Altogether, BB&T; company-wide lent $1.5 billion last year in seniors housing and healthcare debt. In addition to its proprietary relationship with BB&T;, the company also structures loans through agencies (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), life insurance companies, CMBS investors, pension fund advisors, commercial banks and capital markets investors. "I can't think of anyone else in the country that has the full breadth of capabilities that we have," says Thomas. Primarily a lender to multifamily owners, Grandbridge also lends to owners of retail, industrial, offce, hotel and self storage real estate. As of this writing, the company has a servicing portfo- Richard Thomas leads Grandbridge Real Estate Capital's Atlanta-based seniors housing team.