ROC Seniors Housing Fund Manager LLC is having a busy year. The Orlando-based company has already acquired more than $1 billion worth of senior housing and medical properties in the last month, and it shows no signs of slowing down its investment activity for the senior living space.
The company has raised $737 million for a new investment fund targeted at acquiring and developing senior housing and medical properties, of which the company has already committed 65% of the capital since the fund closed in July.
The company is backed by Bridge Investment Group, a firm that manages private equity investments with currently $3.5 billion of assets under managements. As a private equity real estate fund sponsor, Bridge specializes in different real estate sectors, including senior housing, medical properties, multi-family as well as office buildings.
ROC Seniors Housing Fund Manager launched fall 2013, but the experience of the group behind the fund dates back to 1998, said Robb Chapin, CEO of ROC Seniors Housing Fund Manager.
“We’ve been very active in the [senior housing] space,” Chapin told SHN.
ROC Seniors Housing has a capital allocation for new development, but it’s main focus has been acquiring private-pay senior living assets, particularly independent living, assisted living and memory care properties. The company also has an allocation for continuing care retirement communities, but Chapin says this property type isn’t a “core part” of the company’s investment style.
“We like communities where there’s a value add component,” Chapin said. “There’s a lot of opportunity in that side of this sector, where capital doesn’t flow very efficiently.”
While most industry investors might prefer to buy assets once they are fully-stabilized, the ROC Seniors Housing is more focused on buying assets where it can add value through repositioning the property.
“The current inventory of senior housing in the U.S. has aged in excess of 20 years, so there’s a lot of operational and functional obsolescence, which provides great opportunities to reposition these assets and repurpose units to make them relevant for today’s marketplace and what residents are looking for,” Chapin said.
Still, it’s clear that ROC Seniors is not limiting itself to this type of transaction. Take a $4.5 million proposal to newly construct a community with 80 assisted living units and 32 memory care units in Winter Park, Florida.
This project most likely would be financed through the ROC Seniors Fund I, Chapin told SHN. The company hopes to have final city approvals in early fall.
If city commissioners give the green light, construction could get underway within eight months. The proposal for the completed project, dubbed Progress Point, includes a 1,000-square-foot cafe and a 5,000-square-foot restaurant.
In total, ROC Seniors Housing has a national footprint with investments spanning 37 properties across 16 states, the value of which exceeds $1 billion. The investment net the company has cast extends as far west as California, north to Seattle, the Midwest and New England. Mid-Atlantic states also present a “good opportunity,” Chapin said.
With the remaining 35% of the $737 million fund yet to be deployed, expect more deals from ROC Seniors Housing over the course of the next year as the company looks to further its investment strategy in the senior living sector.
“There are some good opportunities still out there and we’re positioned as well as anybody in the marketplace,” Chapin said.
Written by Jason Oliva
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