It looks as though the $5 billion non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that Blackstone Real Estate filed for last August is coming along nicely.
The new Blackstone REIT is steadily adding to its pile of gold with buy-ins from “mom-and-pop investors,” to use a phrase from a May 23 Wall Street Journal report. Last month, the REIT—dubbed Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. and externally managed by an affiliate of private equity giant Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX)—reported it had amassed a staggering $755.4 million, which is roughly 41% of all the funds the entire non-traded REIT sector raised this year.
It looks like Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust has not yet acquired any senior living assets, though. As of March 31, 2017, the Blackstone REIT owned four properties and had four positions in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), according to a recent SEC filing. It also only operated in five reportable segments: multifamily, industrial, hotel, and retail properties, alongside investments in real estate-related securities.
The REIT did list senior living among potential investments in a 2016 SEC filing, however. And Blackstone Group has made significant recent acquisitions in the senior housing space.
“Blackstone has made a strong debut in raising non-traded REIT capital, and clearly believes in the current merits of senior housing as evidenced by its recent sizable activity in the space,” Green Street analyst Michael Knott told Senior Housing News. “The private equity giant doesn’t need this new NTR capital to remain a force in senior housing acquisitions, but if it does include senior housing in the NTR’s investment activity, it could give the firm another angle on evaluating opportunities.”
Blackstone declined to comment to Senior Housing News about its plans for senior housing.
Written by Tim Regan
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