Collington seeks county role as conduit issuer for $7.5 million preconstruction bond

Collington Episcopal Life Care requested that Prince George's County act as conduit issuer for a $7,500,000 taxable bond to fund preconstruction costs for its Vision 2030 campus renovation project, Collington CEO Anne Gillespie told the County Council during public comment on March 18, 2025. The request was presented at the council's regular meeting in the County Council Chamber.

Gillespie said Collington is a "full service continuing care retirement community located on our 125 acre beautiful campus in Mitchellville," and described the community as serving "over 500 older adults" and employing "over 200 dedicated employees." She said the Vision 2030 project would replace the existing health center with 72 assisted-living beds and add 34 apartments, 13 cottages and eight villas for independent living residents.

Amy Castleberry, managing director with Ziegler and Collington's investment banker on the transaction, told the council the nonprofit is requesting that the county serve as conduit issuer for a $7,500,000 taxable bond to cover "architectural design, engineering, permitting, and planning" for the redevelopment. Castleberry said the county currently serves as conduit issuer for about $64,000,000 in bonds issued in 2017 for Collington, of which about $50,000,000 remain outstanding. She said the terms of the 2025 bonds have been negotiated with Truist Bank and are structured to maintain parity with Collington's existing 2017 bonds.

Both presenters told the council the proposed 2025 bonds would be nonrecourse obligations of Collington and that Collington would be responsible for all issuance costs, including administrative expenses and legal fees. Castleberry described the financing request as time sensitive and said the parties were on track to close by April 30, 2025.

The request was made during the public-comment portion of the March 18 meeting; the council did not take a formal vote on the Collington request during the public-comment segment.

Why it matters: Collington's presentation frames the request as supporting an expansion of senior living capacity in Prince George's County and as creating local jobs and business activity. The financing would fund preconstruction planning and design; Gillespie said the full campus redevelopment will serve additional residents and require further financing and approvals.

Next steps were not recorded during the public-comment presentation. Collington stated it would work with the county on the transaction and indicated an expected closing date, but no council action on the conduit request was recorded at that time.