Developer teams with REIT

BONITA SPRINGS — Senior-housing developer Discovery Senior Living has partnered with National Health Investors on two projects, the company announced.

National Health Investors, a publicly traded real estate investment trust, hired Bonita Springs-based Discovery to manage Regency Pointe, a 120-unit retirement community in Rainbow City, Ala. NHI recently acquired the property northeast of Birmingham, Ala., for $12 million.

NHI also agreed to fund a $2.5 million second-mortgage loan for Discovery's construction of a senior-housing community in Naples. Construction is scheduled to begin later this year on Discovery Village at Naples, a 120,000-square-foot residential building at 8417 Sierra Meadows Blvd. in Naples. Discovery expects to complete the $30 million project by January 2015.

“Our new association with NHI provides us a solid foundation for further expansion opportunities not only in Florida but in adjoining states,” says Discovery Senior Living CEO and co-founder Thomas Harrison, in a statement.