Seller financing to avoid taxes...until refinanced?

[Mike Meisner]

Hi everyone, longtime lurker but first time poster.

I have a lead on a great value add storage facility. 130 units, 40 containers, RV spots, a house to rent, and a warehouse bay...plus extra space to expand. 
Original owner, wants to retire. He's 99% filled and has NEVER raised rent. Seems like you could almost double the NOI with the right plan.

But he doesn't want to pay taxes on the sale....so seller financing might be attractive. But when the time comes for me to refinance in a few years he will get hit with a bill - which is obviously the whole reason seller financing would appeal to him in the first place. 

My question is this: can he 1031 back into the purchase at the time of refinancing (as an LP) and then collect dividends at that point? Or is there some other way to creatively structure this?