New Buyer Lines Up to Purchase LI Retirement Facility

Once again, there appears to be a buyer in place for the bankrupt Harborside retirement community on Long Island.

Chicago-based investment group Focus Healthcare Partners is in contract to buy the facility in Nassau County’s Port Washington for $80 million, Newsday reported. The lone bidder for the complex, Focus, already put down a $2.75 million deposit.

The deal is still in flux, however. If fewer than 46 of the senior tenants sign agreements to stay at Harborside, the seller will knock $5 million off the purchase price. Additionally, a federal bankruptcy judge needs to sign off on the transaction.

That may be complicated by a notable omission from the sales agreement, which lacks a provision for paying entrance-fee refunds owed to residents and the families of deceased residents, believed to total roughly $130 million. At a hearing last month, the judge in the case said he wouldn’t approve a sale without money set aside for that purpose.

“While we can build a better future at Harborside, unfortunately we can’t undo money lost by others that led to this bankruptcy,” Focus co-founder Curt Schaller told Newsday.

The chief executive officer of Harborside did not respond to a request for comment on the latest sales agreement. A bankruptcy court hearing is set for Feb. 12.

Should the acquisition close, management will need to find homes for those living in the assisted-living, nursing home and dementia care units, as Focus will only be able to support independent-living units initially. A relocation plan would need to be approved by the state Department of Health.

Iowa-based Life Care Services Communities previously won an auction for the property, but terminated a $104 million sale agreement in the fall as a result of regulatory issues. LCS is one of the nation’s largest retirement home operators.

Harborside is in the midst of its third bankruptcy proceeding in the last decade. Lawyers for the facility recently said that it would need to close if the sale to Focus doesn’t go through, putting approximately 180 elderly residents at risk.

— Holden Walter-Warner