Healthcare magnate spends $24M on sixth South Florida nursing home

Seller bought the building in 2014 for $15M

Bent Philipson and 1235 Northeast 135th Street (Linkedin, Google Maps)
Bent Philipson and 1235 Northeast 135th Street (Linkedin, Google Maps)

A healthcare magnate continued his South Florida nursing home buying spree, paying $24 million for a 245-bed facility in North Miami. It marks his sixth nursing home purchase in two years, totaling more than $100 million in deals.

Companies tied to Bent Philipson bought the one-story North Dade Nursing and Rehabilitation Center at 1207 and 1235 Northeast 135th Street, according to records.

A company tied to Abraham Shaulson of Millennium Management is the seller. Millennium bought the buildings in August 2014 for $14.8 million, records show.

In February, Shaulson sold Philipson two 180-bed facilities, each for $19.8 million. The facilities were the South Dade Nursing and Rehabilitation Center at 17475 South Dixie Highway and the Golden Glades Nursing and Rehabilitation Center at 220 Sierra Drive in Miami.

Last year, Philipson bought two facilities connected to the Esformes family. In August 2019, he bought the 203-bed Harmony Health Center at 9820 North Kendall Drive for $19.6 million, according to records. In December, he bought the 60-bed Fairhavens Center at 201 Curtiss Parkway, Miami Springs, for $29 million. The historic site was built in 1926 as a luxury hotel.

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Last year, healthcare executive Philip Esformes was convicted of Medicare fraud and sentenced to 20 years in prison. His father, Morris Esformes, signed the deeds to Philipson.

Philipson, of Spring Valley, New York, has a 50 percent ownership stake in the North Dade SNF Operating Co., which holds the license for North Dade Nursing, according to data from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. A Delaware company called Ventura Opco Holdco LLC holds the other 50 percent. North Dade SNF Operating Company is managed by Andrew Bronfeld, according to state records.

Philipson is the founder of Philosophy Care Centers, a Long Island-based network of skilled nursing facilities throughout New York and New Jersey, according to the company’s website.

He is also a co-founder and partner in SentosaCare, a Webster, New York-based owner and operator of nursing homes that has a history of fines, violations and complaints for deficient care. In 2017, it was sued in federal court for allegedly treating hundreds of Filipino workers as indentured servants.

Philipson’s interests in South Florida real estate go beyond healthcare. In August, he bought a waterfront 5,800-square-foot home in Bal Harbour for $9.3 million.