The sale of Schuylkill County's nursing home, Rest Haven, took a big step forward Wednesday when commissioners adopted a resolution authorizing the change of ownership to Investment 360 of Lakewood, New Jersey, for $10.9 million.

The county decided last August to sell the home, in Schuylkill Haven, because it was costing too much to operate.The resolution, which came one week after commissioners signed a letter of intent with Investment 360, included the approval of two other agreements, an operations transfer agreement and an asset purchase agreement."That triggers the payment of the ($500,000) deposit by the buyer, and starts the 30 day due diligence period. So by June 20, the buyer has to decide whether or not to move forward with the close," said attorney Mark Stewart of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, the Harrisburg law firm the county hired to handle the sale.He expects the closing to take place around Aug. 1.Of the deposit, $100,000 is non-refundable.Due diligence involves Investment 360 bringing in consultants and experts to examine the home and its assets.For example, engineers will check the historical records and see if there's any need to do additional environment reviews, and they will go through all the financial records, he said.Because Investment 360 was among the three finalists for the sale, it has had since last September to review the records.The county's first choice, Nationwide Health Care Services of Brick, New Jersey, offered $12 million. It backed out of the sale in late March, before the resolution benchmark.County Administrator Mark Scarbinsky said Stewart began working on the Investment 360 sale as soon as Nationwide's withdrawal was final.The negotiations took about 30 days, Scarbinsky said.Ten companies offered bids to buy the 142-bed home. By January, the county had narrowed the field to three: Nationwide, Investment 360, and Long Term Care Management LLC of Bronx, New York, which offered $10 million.In February, commissioners announced that Nationwide would be the new owner.The company's withdrawal had nothing to do with Rest Haven, commissioners have said.Investment 360 expanded the scope of its purchase, resulting in a higher sale price.The company has promised to make capital improvements to the 103-year-old nursing home within two years, and to abide by other requirements set by commissioners.