MALVERN, Pa., and KENSINGTON, Md. — Mesa West Capital has provided AEW Capital Management LP with $114.6 million in first-mortgage debt across two loans to refinance the seniors housing communities of Echo Lake in Malvern and Modena Reserve at Kensington in Kensington. Terms of the loans were not disclosed.
AEW delivered the 250-unit Echo Lake to the market in 2020 alongside joint venture partner Sage Senior Living Inc., which operates the community. Located about 27 miles northwest of Philadelphia in Malvern, Echo Lake offers a mix of independent and assisted living and memory care units in a five-story, 312,000-square-foot building. The two residential wings are connected by an expansive central amenities space that includes a health and medical center with a visiting physician’s office, fitness center, multiple dining rooms, rooftop pub, sports simulation lounge, movie theater and salon and spa.
Modena Reserve, located about nine miles north of Washington, D.C. in Kensington, is a 135-unit community delivered by AEW to the market in 2021 with joint venture partners McCaffery Interests and Solera Senior Living, which oversees community operations. The 167,823-square-foot community offers independent and assisted living and memory care units. Amenities include resident lounges, an art studio, beauty salon and service bar, coffee shop, fitness center, massage suite, visiting physician office, theater and outdoor courtyard with walking paths and fire pits.
Both communities are in suburban markets that exhibit excellent market fundamentals for seniors housing such as above average per capita income, strong median home values and a growing senior population, according to Mesa West. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that metro Philadelphia’s population of seniors age 65 and older grew by 95,000 residents between 2020 and 2023, a 9.3 percent increase. During the same period the change in population of persons age 65 and older in the Washington, D.C. area increased 12 percent, rising from 835,000 to 935,000.
“Philadelphia and D.C. demonstrate the growth of the aging population across the United States, which has created a massive demand tailwind for quality senior housing and services. Yet despite demographic evidence, the senior living industry has experienced decelerating supply growth since the onset of the pandemic,” says Mesa West Executive Director Matt Snyder, who led the origination team along with Vice President Brian Hahn and Analyst Boyd Howard out of the private lender’s Chicago and New York offices.
“Against this backdrop, the strength and experience of sponsorship, the quality of construction and the level of services position Echo Lake and Modena Reserve to perform very well against the competitive set in their respective markets,” adds Snyder.
The Echo Lake financing was arranged by Senior Managing Director Sarah Anderson and Analyst Nina del Pozo of Newmark’s Dallas office. The Modena Reserve financing was arranged by Berkadia’s Managing Director Steve Muth, Managing Director Austin Sacco, Assistant Vice President Alec Rosenfeld and analyst Harris Inoff.