Boston-based Steward Health Care has sold two vacant buildings to real estate company Cabot, Cabot & Forbes of New England for $21 million to help pay down its debt, according to the Boston Business Journal.
The two empty buildings are adjacent to Steward's St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton, Mass.
Blue Vista Capital Management of Chicago provided Cabot with financial backing for the deal, which closed Dec. 30, according to the report.
"We have committed the entire proceeds of the sale of the 159 and 201 Washington Street building to pay down debt, which will assist greatly in our mission to provide high-quality, low-cost healthcare in the communities where our patients live," a Steward spokesman said in an emailed statement, according to the report.
As the Steward Health Care system has grown since its inception in 2010, its long-term debt has mounted. A report from the Massachusetts' Attorney General's office stated Steward had $413.3 million in long-term debt in fiscal year 2014, up 1 percent from fiscal year 2013 and up 27 percent from fiscal year 2012, according to the report.
Steward has completed similar property sales in recent years. Previously, the health system leased and then sold property to Healthcare Trust of America in a 99-year deal for $100 million. Steward would then lease back parts of the property. It agreed to a similar arrangement for its New England Sinai campus in 2014, for which it gained $23.4 million.