Embattled investor Bent Philipson pays $23M for Hollywood nursing home

Bent Philipson, a controversial investor in elder care facilities, scooped up a nursing home in Hollywood for $22.7 million. 

Philipson, through an affiliate, bought the 240-bed Hillcrest Health Care and Rehabilitation Center at 4200 Washington Street from an entity tied to Omega Healthcare Investors, according to records and real estate database Vizzda. 

Completed in 1969, the center consists of a one-story, 70,300-square-foot building on 3.8 acres, Vizzda shows. 

The deal comes as New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing Philipson and his son, Avi Philipson, as well as several other individuals and entities for their roles in allegedly diverting Medicaid and Medicare funds from the 588-unit Cold Spring Hills nursing home in Oyster Bay, New York. James, who filed the suit in December, claims that a web of entities used in the scheme made it look as if government funds were going to the facility, but they really went to the defendants, resulting in neglect of Cold Spring Hills residents. 

Philipson and his attorneys didn’t immediately return a request for comment. 

South Florida’s elder care facilities, such as nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, remain coveted real estate. The state’s reputation as a mecca for retirees has led to sporadic investment sales of these facilities. While assisted-living facilities provide care that supports senior residents in pursuing a more independent lifestyle, nursing homes offer medical care and are staffed with trained health care-providers. 

Philipson has been a frequent investor in South Florida facilities. He and Andrew Bronfeld bought Signature HealthCare Center of Waterford at 8333 West Okeechobee Road in Hialeah Gardens for $43.2 million in November. In 2021, Philipson also bought half of the stake in Claridge House at 13900 Northeast Third Court, and Regents Park at 18905 Northeast 25th Avenue. Both are in north Miami-Dade County. The properties traded for a combined $33.4 million, with CareRite buying the other half stake in the nursing homes. 

Previously, Philipson went on a six-nursing home buying spree for a combined $100 million. This included the $24 million purchase of the North Dade Nursing And Rehab Center at 1207 and 1235 Northeast 135th Street in North Miami in 2020. 

Philipson and his wife, Deborah, own a five-bedroom waterfront home in Bal Harbour at 148 Bal Bay Drive, which they bought for $9.3 million in 2020.