Sims Underwrites Senior Bonds and Preferred Equity for Tuscan Isle
“Our financing partnership with HJ Sims is very special to us. Our emerging relationship with ChampionsGate is exciting as is the continued expansion of our senior living portfolio.”
– Mike Comparato, Chairman, CEO, Vieste Group, LLC
Partnered Right®
Volterra at ChampionsGate, a Tuscan Isle Community is a new senior living community to be located in the mixed-use development “ChampionsGate” located in Four Corners, FL. The community will consist of 131 independent living apartments, 56 assisted living and 36 memory care suites and will encompass approximately 220,000 square feet. Volterra at ChampionsGate will be a sister campus of Volterra at Solivita Marketplace, previously known as Tuscan Isle, which is being developed in nearby Kissimmee, Florida.
ChampionsGate is a mixed-use, master-planned development spanning approximately 2,300 acres, approximately 5 miles southwest of The Walt Disney World Resort. ChampionsGate consists of a variety of residential home units, a Del Webb active adult community, a luxury four-diamond Omni Resort, the ChampionsGate Golf Club, which includes two 18-hole championship golf courses designed by architect and golfer, Greg Norman, as well as the Leadbetter Golf Academy, and a retail center called “ChampionsGate Village” that includes a Publix grocery store, casual and fine dining, a pharmacy, banks and a gas station.
Structured Right®
In 2015, The Tuscan Isle ownership group was approached with the opportunity to acquire a site within the ChampionsGate mixed-use development to construct a new senior living community. The potential site was attractive as it provided the opportunity to construct the first and only planned senior living community within the growing ChampionsGate development. However, the project created a couple challenges, as the site is approximately 20 miles from Volterra at Solivita Marketplace, which began construction in February 2015 and was not scheduled to be completed until May 2016.
Executed Right®
Although Volterra at Solivita Marketplace was not yet open and fully operational, the project is currently scheduled to be completed on budget and on time for opening in May 2016. To prepare for having two projects under development at the same time, Tuscan Isle focused on utilizing its experience from the Solivita project to improve and complement the planning and development of Volterra at ChampionsGate. Based on feedback from pre-marketing activities at the Solivita project, improvements were made to the design and layout of portions of the campus. Additionally, once complete, Volterra at Solivita Marketplace provides a unique opportunity to provide tours and market to prospective residents of Volterra at ChampionsGate while it is under construction. Sims provided for institutional site visits that toured both the Solivita project and the new site for Volterra at ChampionsGate to bolster interest in the bond issue. In addition, Sims provided for a focused retail order period for its accredited investor base.
Financed Right®
The Series 2016 Bonds were issued through the Florida Development Finance Corporation underwritten by HJ Sims and consist of $48,240,000 in tax-exempt bond proceeds, as well as $2,930,000 in taxable bond proceeds. The Series 2016 Bonds issued by the FDFC generated strong interest with approximately 16 institutions placing orders along with over $14 million in sales to accredited investors. Sims and an affiliate of Vieste also raised $6,800,000 of corporate bonds through a private placement to each organization’s extensive accredited investor base, which, collectively with the Series 2016 Bonds and equity contributions, was used to fund the Project, Debt Service Reserve, Operating and Capitalized Interest Funds, and pay certain costs of issuance. Sims was able to execute the sale of the senior Series 2016A and Series 2016B at an average coupon of 6.36% and an arbitrage yield of 6.60%.
For more information on , please contact:
Jeff Sands
203.418.9002