Specialty investment bank Ziegler has completed a $632,925,000 tax-exempt bond financing package for River’s Edge, a new senior living community planned for the Riverdale section of the Bronx. The transaction is described as the largest senior living tax-exempt bond deal completed to date and will support the development of New York City’s first continuing care retirement community.
River’s Edge is being developed on the 32-acre campus of its sponsor, RiverSpring Living, which overlooks the Hudson River in Riverdale. The project represents a significant expansion of senior living options on the existing campus and is designed as a full-service continuing care retirement community, offering a spectrum of housing and care options for older adults in a single location.
Proceeds from the bond issuance will fund a range of project-related costs. These include development of 260 independent living apartments, construction of associated amenities, capitalized interest for a 39-month period, debt service reserve funds for each tranche of bonds, and transaction-related costs of issuance. The financing structure is intended to fully support the initial phase of development and stabilize the capital stack during the early years of the project.
The River’s Edge campus is being advanced as a not-for-profit initiative. Chicago-based Integrated Development II has been engaged as the project’s developer, marking the firm’s first not-for-profit development assignment. RiverSpring Living, the longstanding sponsor on the Riverdale campus, is leveraging its existing site and Hudson River setting as the foundation for the new CCRC.
Ziegler managing directors Chad Himel and Keith Robertson highlighted the scale and significance of the financing, noting that working with the River’s Edge team on what they characterized as a historic transaction will help position the RiverSpring Living organization for the long term. Their comments underscore both the complexity of executing a large-scale, tax-exempt bond financing and the strategic importance of the project for the sponsor.
As the first continuing care retirement community within New York City, River’s Edge stands out not only for its record-setting bond issuance but also for its role in expanding the city’s senior housing and care infrastructure. The combination of a sizable tax-exempt bond structure, a not-for-profit development model, and an established senior care sponsor situates the project as a notable benchmark in the region’s senior housing capital markets activity.
