LTC Properties to Purchase Two Health Care Facilities

LTC Properties Inc. will add to its health care facilities portfolio with the acquisition of two properties in South Carolina for $11.5 million. One of the properties is a skilled nursing property with 98 licensed beds. The other is an adjacent “continuum of care” property, which has 20 licensed skilled nursing beds, 40 assisted living units, 34 independent living units and 18 cottages and patio homes. LTC Properties is a self-administered real estate investment trust that primarily invests in long-term care and other healthcare related facilities. The transaction, which is scheduled to close on or about Feb. 28, will be financed through the use of funds from company’s unsecured line of credit. Simultaneous with the purchase, the company will lease the properties under a 10-year triple net master lease to an unrelated third-party operator. The operator, which is new to LTC Properties, currently operates 15 nursing facilities containing of about 2,318 licensed beds in five states. Those do not include the operation of the two properties that LTC Properties will acquire. The lease will contain three five-year renewal options and annual escalations of 2.5 percent. LTC Properties has agreed to fund $700,000 in capital improvements to the properties at the lease rate. The acquisitions are expected to bring additional revenues to the company, with $966,000 projected for 2011 and $1.6 million projected for 2012. Jessica Vernabe