UPDATED, Nov. 13, 3:28 p.m.: Chicago firm Ventas REIT paid $134.7 million to acquire Brookdale Senior Living’s ground lease for its Battery Park City location, according to records filed with the city last Friday.
Brookdale Battery Park, at 455 North End Avenue, is a 14-story, 239,200-square-foot senior facility that contains a gym, a wellness center and a heated pool. The site, which runs the length of North End Avenue between Chambers and Warren Street, contains 218 apartments, according to city data.
Ventas is funding the acquisition of the Battery Park City ground lease with a $116.1 million loan from Capital One, property records show. The loan package includes a $73.9 million mortgage.
The site is owned by the Battery Park City Authority, and Brookdale signed a lease for the property in 1999, records indicate. Before the sale to Ventas, the property was the company’s only New York City location. Brookdale operates five other facilities in the state, according to its website.
Brookdale closed the deal as it faces activist pressure to monetize its real estate. Earlier this month, Australian firm Macquarie Investment Management sent an open letter to the Brookdale board, urging the firm to sells its assets, Senior Housing News reported. In its letter, Macquarie claimed that Brookdale was selling its stock at a 50 percent discount against the value of its real estate holdings. Over the past year, the company has reduced its portfolio through property sales and lease terminations by 10,473 units. It plans to cut its real estate holdings by 20 percent over the next three years.
Ventas, which focuses on senior housing and health care facilities, operates 1,200 locations in the U.S., the United Kingdom and Canada. The company has four facilities in New York City, according to its website. It operates ATRIA Senior Living locations at 333 West 86th Street in the Upper West Side, 112-50 72nd Avenue in Forest Hills and 117-01 84th Avenue in Kew Gardens. It also runs Sunrise Senior Living at 801 Narrows Road North in Staten Island.
Brookdale and Ventas did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Correction: The story has been updated to reflect the the full loan amount.