Sherri Schugart

International real estate firm Hines has strengthened its involvement in senior living by partnering with Sentio Investments to assemble a portfolio specializing in senior living and other healthcare real estate assets, the companies announced Wednesday.

Motivating the Hines – Sentio partnership are near-term expectations of a growing population of adults aged 80 or more years and the aging of existing senior living inventory motivated the companies to join forces, they said.

“We feel the macroeconomic and demographic trends provide a compelling opportunity to invest in healthcare assets,” Sherri Schugart, CEO of the Core Fund, REIT & BDC Group of Hines, said in a statement.

Hines, a Houston-based privately owned company with approximately $111 million in assets under management, announced its entrance into the senior living sector earlier this year when it officially broke ground on a project in New York City with REIT Welltower. The 16-story, 130,000-square-foot tower will house Midtown Manhattan’s first purpose-built assisted living and memory care community. Formally named Sunrise at East 56th and also known as “the Welltower,” the property will house complementary retail at the base and include 151 residential units. It will be managed by Sunrise Senior Living.

Sentio, headquartered in Orlando, FL, formerly owned public non-traded real estate investment trust Sentio Healthcare Properties but sold it in 2017.

“This partnership with Hines allows us to actively pursue a wide range of investment opportunities with our industry relationships,” Sentio Investments founder and CEO John Mark Ramsey said in a statement.

Sentio Investments focuses on private-pay senior living, post-acute and medical office properties. The firm has more than $5 billion in experience operating, acquiring and developing healthcare real estate across the country over the past 20 years.