Herbert J. Sims & Co., Inc.

Crane's Mill

sims recommends fitch rating to 6-year old free-standing ccrc to maximize refinancing savings

Crane’s Mill in West Caldwell, New Jersey is a 6-year-old, free-standing, self-managed CCRC affiliated with Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey. Crane’s Mill wanted to substantially reduce its original cost of capital in order to enhance resident services and increase its funding of benevolent care.

Crane's Mill

Sims recommended seeking an investment grade rating despite the CCRC’s youth. Sims believed that the rating would benefit Crane’s Mill relative to its peers in at least two ways: lowering the cost of capital for the fixed rate bonds and reducing the letter of credit fees for the variable rate bonds. The investment grade “BBB-“ rating from Fitch resulted in a weighted average fixed rate of 4.93% and reduced the letter of credit fee by 35 basis points up front and 15 basis points annually.

Mario Porro, Vice President of Finance and CFO of Crane’s Mill thanked the entire Sims team “for all of your excellent work on Phase I, and we look forward to working with you as we gear up for Phase II .”