Old, but still quite useful

Growing old is like wine, as the saying goes, because people get better with age.

Just like wine, real estate not only gets better, but sometimes more valuable, too. Like Hudson Manor on Tampa's Davis Islands, a 66-bed boutique assisted-living facility that sold in February for $6.3 million.

Assisted-living facilities are pretty popular in real estate these days. But it's unlikely many come in the form of Hudson Manor, a facility not only minutes from Tampa General Hospital, but also in a building older than many of its residents.

“It's classified as a historical building, and yes, it's very unusual to have that classification for an assisted-living facility,” says Sean Kanov, president and CEO of Gazit Group's Royal Senior Care, the property manager.

Facilities that are just 20 years old typically require a lot of updating. So Kanov and his team really had a lot to do when it came to Hudson Manor, built in 1925. “On Day One, we added Wi-Fi to the building and made sure all of the other systems were up to speed,” Kanov says. “The outside appearance isn't going to change, but what we do on the inside is what really matters.”

Care Investment Trust of New York closed the deal through its Care RSL Tampa Propco LLC affiliate. The building last sold in 2007 for $2.6 million.