A behemoth in the world of real estate investment has decided to get serious about the senior living space.
AIG Global Real Estate (AIG) has entered into a joint venture with Atlanta-based senior living operator First & Main to integrate the development, ownership and operational components for a new brand of independent living, assisted living and memory care communities across the Midwest and larger U.S. market.
AIG Global Real Estate comprises a group of international companies within insurance behemoth AIG that invests in and actively manages about $31.2 billion of real estate for clients and AIG member companies in various nations, according to the business’ website.
Involvement in senior living is “very new to AIG,” as they’ve always been in different asset categories, Gary Granger, CEO of Granger Group, told Senior Housing News. First & Main is the brainchild of Granger and Thrive Senior Living founder and Principal Jeramy Ragsdale.
“The partnership with First & Main will be our most significant investment in the senior housing sector to date,” Derrick McSwain, managing director at AIG Global Real Estate Investment, told SHN. “We believe the First & Main partnership will provide an efficient model for investing in an innovative development model and operating platform.”
First & Main and AIG are planning to co-invest on new development and acquisition opportunities throughout the U.S. during the next four years, according to a press release.
Financing for the first five projects is expected to close by this November and construction is anticipated to end during the fourth quarter of 2016. Three of the projects are located in the Detroit suburbs of Bloomfield Township, Auburn Hills and Commerce Township. The other two projects are located in Orange Township, Ohio, and New Albany, Ohio.
“First & Main is the management company and the brand that we will be using,” Granger explained to SHN.
The joint venture is working with Granger Group to deliver the projects on a turnkey basis. Specifically, Granger Group is handling the finance, development, design work and asset management services, with operational management services done in partnership with Jeramy Ragsdale, Granger told SHN.
Granger explained that the joint venture will focus on one operating system and replicate it “over and over again.” He called AIG a “very highly sophisticated partner” and said he expects First & Main and AIG to have a long-term relationship with each other.
“First & Main will be a valued partner and a key component of our senior housing growth strategy for years to come,” McSwain said in a prepared statement.
Both AIG Global Real Estate and First & Main declined to disclose financial details related to the joint venture or pipeline of properties.
Written by Mary Kate Nelson
Companies featured in this article:
AIG Global Real Estate, First & Main, Granger Group, Thrive Senior Living
