Sims and Wesley Commons Execute on Tailored
Expansion and Repositioning Financing
$45,560,000 | SOUTH CAROLINA | NOVEMBER 2025
“Partnering with HJ Sims on another aspect of our evolution has been an impressive experience. With their guidance, each project makes our organization stronger, positioning us to provide unique services and amenities that will benefit our residents for generations to come.”
Partnered Right®
Wesley Commons is a not-for-profit life plan community located on 150 acres in Greenwood, South Carolina. They offer a full continuum of care including independent living, assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing. Wesley Commons opened in 1971 with a 102-bed health center and has grown since then through several expansions and repositioning projects. Over the past several years, the community’s waitlist has grown significantly as demand for independent living has grown. To meet this demand and expand resident facilities, Wesley Commons took on a strategic project to build 33 new independent living cottages, alongside upgrades to dining, social, and recreational spaces. Wesley Commons engaged HJ Sims after an RFP process in 2024 to assist with securing financing for the project.
Structured Right®
Working with Wesley Commons’ financial advisor, Ascension Capital Enterprises, HJ Sims developed a plan of finance that balanced Wesley Commons goals to improve its days cash on hand position while ensuring adequate debt service coverage. At the time of printing the preliminary official statement, Wesley Commons had 206 days cash on hand as well as 2.24x debt service coverage. While these metrics were strong, the organization wanted to improve its cash position through the expansion project. HJ Sims ran several scenarios to determine the amount of entrance fee debt that would significantly improve cash, while balancing debt service coverage. Ultimately, HJ Sims sized the entrance fee debt to roughly 50% of the initial entrance fee pool, which would allow more entrance fees to be retained by Wesley Commons. This structure resulted in a projected 337 days cash on hand and 1.86x coverage once the project stabilized.
Executed Right®
Over the summer, HJ Sims pulled together the working group to begin preparing the necessary legal and disclosure documents for the preliminary official statement (POS). Simultaneously, Wesley Commons moved forward with collecting 10% deposits for the new independent living units and finalizing guaranteed maximum price (GMP) construction contracts for the project. Within several months Wesley Commons reached and surpassed 70% presales, which indicated strong demand for the new units. By September, Wesley Commons had secured GMPs without significant construction costs increases over their latest estimates.
HJ Sims led the working group to enter the market as soon as possible. There was a significant amount of municipal bond supply coming in late Q3 and throughout Q4 that could potentially affect the demand for Wesley Commons’ bonds. By early October, the working group was able to finalize all necessary documents and print the POS.
Over the next several weeks, HJ Sims marketed the bonds to institutional investors and held an investor presentation. During the week of pricing, treasury interest rates increased but the municipal bond market held steady. On November 6th, HJ Sims sold the fixed rate bonds to 15 institutional investors and was able to lower yields in several maturities due to strong investor demand.
Financed Right®
On November 20, Wesley Commons closed on $45,560,000 of Series 2025 Bonds at a true interest cost (TIC) of 5.70%. The long-term series 2025A Bonds were also sold with a 7-year call feature at 102%, which would allow the bonds to be refinanced early once the project stabilizes. Wesley Commons plans to complete the amenity projects in 2026 and expects to welcome new residents to the cottages in October 2026.
Tom Bowden
804.398.8577
David Saustad
214.909.8588
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