Ventas Buys Palm Beach County Hospital for $37M

Ventas traded an assisted living community for a hospital in South Florida’s Palm Beach County, likely part of a larger $189 million purchase. 

The health care REIT paid $37.2 million for Kindred Hospital The Palm Beaches, which specializes in long-term acute care, property records show. The 70,660-square-foot property is at 5555 West Blue Heron Boulevard, facing Bee Line Highway, near the Winding Waters Natural Area nature preserve in Riviera Beach. 

The seller, private health provider Kindred Healthcare, completed the medical facility in 2008, a year after buying the 4-acre site for $3.6 million, per records. Three years ago, LifePoint Health acquired Louisville, Ky.-based Kindred Healthcare and formed a new entity called ScionHealth. 

The Riviera Beach transaction is likely part of a larger purchase. Last week, Ventas announced that it had purchased five Kindred hospitals for a combined $189 million. 

The deal included agreements for Kindred to lease back the properties, which Ventas anticipates will generate $16 million in annual rent payments. The Riviera Beach lease is scheduled to mature in 2034, according to filings to Palm Beach County. The deal includes two five-year extension options, and Kindred will continue operating the property.

Ventas also agreed to extend the leases of 23 Kindred long-term acute care hospitals by five years, starting next year. The extension is expected to trigger $80 million in annual rent payments, a figure that will increase 2.75 percent each year. 

The purchase comes less than a month after Chicago-based Ventas sold a 366,036-square-foot assisted living facility in Lake Worth, Fla., for $64 million. 

Representatives for Ventas and Kindred did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.