A partnership between Bruckal Developments and Ridgeline Properties has purchased the former Country Inn & Suites property at 20221 N. 29th Ave. for a price of $8,336,000. The buyer plans to convert the property into senior housing — assisted living and memory care.

“This is one of the most creative and complex real estate transactions I have encountered in my career,” said Tim Dulany, vice president of Colliers International in Greater Phoenix. “Pent up demand for additional private pay senior housing units in this submarket motivated me to pursue that possibility as an alternate use for this asset.”

Built in 2000, the property offers four-stories of space and was configured as a 126-room hotel.  The 65,000-square-foot building sits on 3.33 acres of land and has 147 parking spaces, as well as an exterior pool and fenced patio area. The buyer/developer plans to reconfigure the building into a 119-bed senior housing community that is slated for opening in February 2018.

Delany said, “The endeavor involved finding a buyer/developer for the project, identifying creative and experienced operator for the facility, and find an architect/designer with senior housing expertise who was willing to take on this unique senior housing conversion.”

PV Deer Valley, LLC, a joint venture partnership between PacVentures LLC and RA Rauch & Associates sold the property to the buyer. Bruckal Developments is a family owned, Arizona-based company with real estate assets in the U.S. and Canada. Ridgeline Properties is a leading senior housing development and property management company based in Oregon. Dulany negotiated the sale transaction, which required 11 months of coordination.

“This hotel is an ideal conversion target as it has large suite size rooms and plentiful common area spaces to develop all the amenities being afforded new seniors facilities today. The pool side setting is especially attractive and sets it apart from most modern offerings in the Phoenix marketplace” says Steven Bruckal, president of Bruckai Developments.

Bruckal Developments, led by Steven Bruckal, has been active in added-value opportunities in the Phoenix market for the past 10 years focusing on apartment renovation and infill construction. The company has built and operated seniors facilities in Canada for a 10-year period from 1999 to 2009.  Bruckal will be responsible for all construction and conversion responsibilities. The general contractor for the project is Hawk General Contracting of Phoenix.

Ridgeline Properties, LLC is the acquisition and development arm of the Ridgeline Group of companies. Ridgeline Properties addresses the real estate aspects of the acquisition and development process, in order to effectively transition operations to Ridgeline Management Company. RMC currently manages more than 2,000 beds in 11 different states, with a focus on expanding in regionals with existing operations. RMC is based in West Linn, Oregon and will be responsible for daily operations once the facility is open.