Griffin-American Completes $106.7M Acquisition of Medical Office Portfolio
American Healthcare Investors and Griffin Capital Corp., co-sponsors of the Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II Inc., paid $106.7 million for 14 medical office buildings in nine states.
By Gail Kalinoski, Contributing Editor
American Healthcare Investors and Griffin Capital Corp., co-sponsors of the Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II Inc., paid $106.7 million for 14 medical office buildings in nine states.
The acquisitions in Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Hawaii, Indiana, Alabama, Illinois, Colorado and South Carolina totaled 474,000 square feet and were completed between May 22 and July 11. On May 1, the Newport Beach, Calif.-based REIT had announced it acquired five medical office buildings for $52.5 million. Those facilities totaled 223,000 square feet and were located in California, Texas and Arizona. The portfolio now consists of 90 buildings valued at about $822 million, based on purchase price.
“We continue to identify attractive properties for the growing portfolio of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II, which now owns properties in 25 states,” said Danny Prosky, a principal of American Healthcare Investors and the REIT’s president and chief operating officer. “Most of these assets are either on the campus of, or in close proximity to, or strongly affiliated with a major healthcare system, a characteristic we value when evaluating a potential acquisition on behalf of the REIT.”
Properties in New Port Richey, Fla.; Las Vegas; Huntsville, Ala.; Hilo, Hawaii; Warsaw, Ind.; Rockwall, San Angelo and Schertz, all in Texas, were acquired from affiliates of Montecito Medical Investment Co., an unaffiliated third party represented by Chris Bodnar and Lee Asher of CBRE, Inc.
Buildings in Champaign and Lemont, both in Illinois, were purchased from HSA Primecare, an unaffiliated third party represented by Savills, L.L.C.
A 58,000-square-foot multi-tenant medical office in Greeley, Colo., was acquired from an unaffiliated third party represented by Garth Hogan and Todd Perman of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank.
The REIT also purchased Northeast Medical Office Building, a multi-tenant facility with 43,000 square feet in Columbia, S.C., from NE Medical Center L.L.C., an unaffiliated third party represented by Bodnar and Asher, the CBRE brokers.
The acquisitions were financed through the assumption of approximately $3.7 million of existing debt, $64 million in borrowings under the REIT’s unsecured line of credit with the Bank of America, N.A., $4 million on the prior secured line of credit with Bank of America, and cash.
Last month, the REIT secured a $200 million unsecured revolving line of credit with Merrill Lynch; Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., and KeyBanc Capital Markets are joint lead arrangers. Bank of America is serving as administrative agent and KeyBank National Association is syndication agent. Under certain conditions, the credit line can be increased up to $350 million.
When the REIT announced the credit facility, Jeff Hanson, chairman & CEO of the REIT and a principal with American Healthcare Investors, said it would help the REIT “continue our pursuit of attractive acquisitions.”
As Commercial Property Executive previously reported, the REIT had previously been the Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT II. In November, Griffin Capital Corp. and American Healthcare Investors were selected by the independent members of Grubb & Ellis’ board of directors to take over sponsorship of the healthcare REIT. Hanson and Prosky held similar leadership roles with the REIT when it was sponsored by Grubb & Ellis. In January, soon after the New York Stock Exchange de-listed Grubb & Ellis, the REIT was renamed Griffin-American Healthcare REIT.
As of March 31, the REIT’s portfolio was 96.7 percent leased with a weighted average remaining lease term of about 10 years and leverage of 33.3 percent. The portfolio is comprised of 48.5 percent medical office buildings, 33.4 percent skilled nursing facilities and 18 percent hospitals, according to the REIT’s web site.
