83.9 F
San Fernando
Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024

Retirement Hotel Sold

The Burbank Gardens Retirement Hotel was sold earlier this month to Newport Beach-based senior housing operator VinCal Senior Housing, LLC, for $12.5 million. The eight-story retirement hotel is undergoing $7 million to $8 million in renovations including turning the eighth floor into a center that will provide care for as many as 25 residents suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. “It’s going to be a higher-end facility,” said George Stavaris, vice president of Colliers International’s Encino office, which represented the buyer. “The market can certainly sustain that.” According to Eric Davidson, principal with Vintage Senior Housing, which will operate the new hotel through Vintage Senior Management, the facility will have 104 residential units with rooms for about 110 seniors after renovations are complete. The hotel should be open in about a year. The facility, which originally opened in the mid-1980s, was owned by Orlando Clarizio Sr. of Burbank for 20 years before he died. According to Clarizio’s son, Orlando Clarizio Jr., the hotel “was struggling for many years” before it was purchased. “My father didn’t believe in raising the rents,” Clarizio Jr. said. “People were paying 30 to 40 percent below market value.” Although the Clarizio family looked for a local company to purchase the hotel, nobody in the area expressed interest in acquiring it because it was in need of renovations, he said. Subsequently, Clarizio Jr. and Stavaris worked together to sell the property for about two years before VinCal purchased it, according to Stavaris. Escrow on the property closed at the end of April. “At the time, it was the only (company) that accepted the property the way it was,” Clarizio Jr. said. According to Davidson, the purchase is among a growing trend among real estate service companies that take part in off-the-market transactions to purchase property. Due to the lack of space in the region, companies are finding it easier to purchase existing entities and renovate them. “With the market as tight as it is, it’s how business is being done,” Davidson said. “Almost every type of industry has seen this type of off-market transaction to find space.” Another advantage to this off-market transaction, Davidson said, is that the zoning for the property won’t need to be changed. With a large number of baby boomers taking on the responsibility of caring for aging parents, the city of Burbank is in need of expanded Alzheimer’s and dementia care for seniors, Davidson said. One feature of the hotel is a “Recollections Wing,” which will be designed to help prompt residents’ memories. In addition to extra staffing and a monitoring system on doors and windows, the rooms in the wing will be adorned with photos in the hopes of jogging the memories of those suffering with Alzheimer’s. Educational and leisure programs will also be offered. The renovated hotel will have an increased bed capacity, according to Stavaris. Although the facility is licensed for 120 beds, it only had 100 beds previously because the top floor wasn’t being used. According to Davidson, after renovations the approximate monthly rent for studio apartments will be in the low-$3,000 range.

Featured Articles

Related Articles