Aurora Health Care Completes $169 Million Sale Leaseback of 10 Medical Buildings in Wisconsin

JSOnline - October 2, 2009

Aurora Health Care Inc. has sold 10 eastern Wisconsin buildings to a Massachusetts-based real estate investment trust for $169 million, a company spokesman said Friday.

Aurora sold the medical office buildings and outpatient surgery centers to SNH Medical Office Properties Trust Inc., a real estate investment trust based in the Boston area, said Aurora spokesman Ron Irwin. The buildings total 640,000 square feet, according to SNH Medical.

The buildings will be leased back to Aurora, which has done other sale-leasebacks. Those transactions provide cash for Aurora to invest into its medical operations and reduce its debt.

The facilities sold are in Wauwatosa, at 3289 N. Mayfair Road; Glendale, at 3003 W. Good Hope Road, and 7000 N. Range Line Road; Pewaukee, at W231-N1440 Corporate Court; Grafton, at 215 W. Washington Ave.; Mount Pleasant, at 8348 Washington Ave. and 8400 Washington Ave., and Sheboygan, at 1221 N. 26th St., 2414 Kohler Memorial Drive, and 1222 N. 23rd St.

SNH Medical is a subsidiary of Senior Housing Properties Trust, based in Newton, Mass. Senior Housing Properties primarily owns nursing homes, assisted living centers and other residential properties, but has been diversifying by buying medical office buildings and other medical facilities, said Timothy Bonang, vice president of investor relations.

Aurora, in two separate sales earlier this year, sold six medical office buildings to Santa Ana, Calif.-based Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT Inc. for around $75 million.

(NOTE: A quarterly earnings release from the buyer indicates that the transaction was a 15 year sale leaseback at an initial rent of approximately $15 million annually - an initial yield of approximately 8.9%.) Sphere: Related Content