Winter Park senior care firm buys Fern Park office park, plans conversion to ALF

The new owner of a Seminole County office park plans to renovate and repurpose its six buildings into a senior living facility, with a opening targeted for late 2018 or early 2019.

Premier Senior Consultants of Winter Park paid $2.7 million for the office park at 7255 Estapona Circle, according to a deed signed May 5 and recorded Thursday in Seminole County. The park is on 3.93 acres, just east of U.S. 17-92 and south of South Street in the Fern Wood-Casselberry area.

The seller was CMS Mezzanine, an affiliate of Philadelphia investment firm CMS Companies.

Premier, a senior care consulting firm, plans to renovate the interiors of the six buildings, all dating to 1988. The now-separate buildings will be connected to create one facility with 80 assisted living/memory care beds, said Trey Vick, husband of Premier managing partner Carrie Vick.

The company also wants to construct a new administration building on the property that will include a kitchen.

"We will commence construction before the end of the year," Vick told GrowthSpotter on Friday, speaking on behalf of his wife. "We'd like to be open between the fourth quarter of 2018 and first quarter of 2019."

Vick said Premier will hire a general contractor in the next 90 days. St. Petersburg architect Kevin Bessolo of Bessolo Design Group will design the project. Kimley-Horn will be the civil engineer.

The property was formally occupied by the Liberty Technical Institute, which used the buildings to train nurses and other medical professionals. The education institute vacated the building in late March 2016.

Premier acquired the office park well below the asking price of $3.25 million.

"It was great acquisition for us," Vick said. "There has always been a desire to create a community that provides a reasonable price point but a high level of care."

Listing agent Joe Rossi of Colliers International said Liberty Technical Institute left before its lease was up, and CMS Companies didn't want to find new tenants.

"They didn't want to go through a re-tenant exercise," Rossi said. "This was a non-cash flow property on their books that they wanted to get rid of."

Premier Senior Consultants help families find the right assisted living or memory care for a relative. The company was founded by Carrie Vick and Holly Jennings, both of whom have a decade or more experience in the senior care industry.

This will be the first senior care facility the partners have built or owned. They have not decided whether they will run the yet-to-be named care center or get a third-party administrator, Trey Vick said.

"Her passion for this is an opportunity for them get into a project where they have a say in who operates it," Vick said of his wife. "Carrie identified this as affording them a chance to … re-engage those buildings into the community for the benefit of the local residents."

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