Prudential Real Estate Investors has bought the Woodland Terrace senior living complex in Cary for $53 million, according to Wake County property records.

The purchase price was 83 percent more than the seller, Walton Street Capital of Chicago, paid for the 22-acre property in December 2004.

Woodland Terrace includes more than 100 apartments and cottage homes for seniors. It also provides assisted-living care and care for patients with Alzheimer's.

Built in 1999 by developer Kisco Retirement Communities, it is one of the region's most lavish senior-living centers.

The price Prudential paid is evidence of the fact that the Triangle is expected to become even more of a magnet for retirees in the coming years.

A federal judge this week granted class action status to a lawsuit by retirees against phone companies Sprint Nextel and Embarq for canceling the retirees' health benefits and life insurance.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren in Kansas opens the retirees' lawsuit to some 14,000 phone company retirees, and thousands of spouses, in 18 states.

Previously, the suit represented 17 retirees, including 11 from North Carolina, seeking to have their health benefits restored. The case also represented 756 retirees, all in North Carolina, for age discrimination.

The retirees allege that for more than three decades, phone company representatives made promises verbally and in writing that their retiree benefits were guaranteed for life. Some took early retirement to lock in on the benefits.