One of Westbury’s biggest senior communities has a new landlord. Ventas Inc. has acquired The Bristal at Westbury, the 140-unit assisted-living complex on Post Avenue, and says it will put about $1.2 million into refreshing the building. The operator stays the same and a voluntary 20 percent set-aside of apartments for lower-income seniors remains in place, a combination local officials and company representatives say is meant to steady operations while keeping the property’s affordable units intact.
As reported by Newsday, Ventas paid an undisclosed amount to seller B2K Development and is planning roughly $1.2 million in capital improvements at the Post Avenue site. The Nassau County Industrial Development Agency signed off on transferring 15 years of existing tax-incentive benefits tied to the property, and officials told the paper those incentives will run through 2040. “No additional tax breaks are being sought,” Peter L. Curry told the paper.
What the Purchase Covers
According to documents filed with the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency, The Bristal at Westbury sits at 117 Post Avenue, and the applicant has committed to keeping 20 percent of the units affordable for households earning at or below 80 percent of area median income. The IDA application also outlines earlier plans for roughly $600,000 in upgrades over three years and projects maintaining about 75 full-time jobs. When the paperwork was prepared, occupancy was recorded at about 70 percent.
Ventas’ Regional Strategy
Ventas’ investor materials sketch out a broader buying spree in senior housing. The real estate investment trust reported closing about $1.0 billion of senior-housing investments in the first quarter and roughly $1.7 billion year-to-date through April. The company says its portfolio now includes more than 1,400 properties, with approximately 900 senior-housing communities. That kind of scale, Ventas argues, gives it the capital and staying power to fund renovations and support operators like the one running The Bristal at Westbury.
Operator, Jobs and Local Reaction
The Bristal’s Long Island site list shows the Westbury community is managed by Ultimate Care Assisted Living Management, and company materials include the Westbury site in the chain’s Long Island portfolio. Local officials told Newsday that the sale will not change the number of affordable apartments or the management company. Ventas says the deal will create eight jobs at the Westbury community, officials told the paper.
Why It Matters
For Long Island, where demand for senior housing is climbing, the transaction is another sign that large real estate investment trusts are snapping up stabilized communities and paying for targeted renovations to bolster occupancy and operations. The U.S. Census Bureau has documented a growing older-adult population nationally, a demographic shift investors and operators point to when defending these kinds of purchases and upgrade plans in the senior-housing market.
