Hoover Medical Clinic Board to meet Friday on bond deal for senior living complex
The Hoover Medical Clinic Board has scheduled a meeting for 2 p.m. Friday to give final consideration for issuing tax-exempt bonds to help finance a company’s $18 million purchase and renovation of the Riverchase Village Senior Living Community.
A company called Omega Communities is asking for the bonds to be issued on its behalf. The company would then make payments on the bonds, at no expense to the city of Hoover, but gain the benefit of the tax-exempt status.
The Riverchase Village Senior Living Community is off Data Drive and is licensed for 125 assisted living beds, but only 104 beds were in operation as of June, when the Medical Clinic Board first gave authorization to start the bond process.
Friday’s vote should help complete the deal, said April Danielson, an attorney for the city of Hoover.
Omega Communities plans to use $11.5 million from the sale of the tax-exempt bonds for its purchase and rehab project. Another $1.5 million will come from taxable financing, and $5 million worth of equity will be used.
The senior living complex has been owned by a Georgia limited liability company called Riverchase Village ADK. The facility is about 16 years old and affiliated with St. Simon's Health Care out of Atlanta.
Omega Communities plans to update 16 of the assisted living beds in order to be eligible for licensing as a specialty care assisted living facility for residents with Alzheimer's disease, dementia and other memory-affecting disorders, according to a document submitted to the city of Hoover.
Riverchase Village ADK is expected to use a portion of the bond proceeds to pay off the outstanding balance on previous revenue bonds issued by Hoover's Medical Clinic Board in 2010, when ADK bought and renovated the complex.
The proposed new name for the complex is River Highlands, according to city records.
Omega Communities expects to enter into an affiliation arrangement with a nearby church and has identified several churches that may be a good fit for the Riverchase Village Senior Living Community, according to the company's proposal.
Omega has entered into similar agreements with churches on its other projects. "Many large churches are enthusiastic about the possibility of expanding their own ministries to include safe and affordable housing for senior citizens in their local communities," according to the company's proposal to the city of Hoover. "Often, the church and its programs become a resource for the residents in the senior living community, and the residents become active members in the church's ministries."
While the churches don't manage the senior living centers or have an equity position or ownership interest, the churches are allocated a percentage (between 10 and 25 percent) of the net distributable cash flow of the project upon stabilization, according to Omega's website.
Thus far, Omega and its development team have financed two projects in Florida with a combined capital commitment of $62 million. Omega controls entities that own 133 units at The Springs at South Biscayne, a newly constructed assisted living and memory care facility in North Port, Fla., and 106 units at The Fountains of Hope under construction in Sarasota County, Fla.
The company also has entered into an agreement to acquire a project in Lake Charles, La., and is pursuing another project in Alabama.
Omega has identified and is working on other opportunities in the Southeast and expects to develop a significant portfolio of senior living projects within the next five years, all with local church ties, strong market studies and solid financial support, the company said.
Friday's meeting is to take place at 2 p.m. in the Hoover City Council conference room behind the council chambers at the Hoover Municipal Center. The meeting is open to the public.