Welltower buys 3 senior communities in region as part of $1B deal

An Ohio-based real estate trust made good on a planned purchase of senior living facilities in Northern Colorado in recent weeks as part of a $1 billion long-term partnership.

Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL) announced in February its intention to buy 25 facilities across the country from Affinity Living Communities for $969 million over several months. Three of those facilities were in the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado.

“This transaction and partnership with Welltower mark a milestone in our company’s history. I am incredibly proud of what we have built and the lives we have touched through our Affinity communities,” Darin Davidson, Affinity’s president, said in a prepared statement. “In Welltower, we found a partner with shared values and forward thinking. The Welltower partnership will enable us to enhance and extend our ability to execute our mission of creating thriving communities in which our engaged residents live full and happy lives.”

The sales of three Colorado communities in Fort Collins, Loveland and Lafayette closed in late August:

• ·  Affinity Fort Collins, 4201 Corbett Drive, for $42.4 million.
• ·  Affinity Loveland, 3415 N. Lincoln Ave., for $38.9 million.
• ·  Affinity at Lafayette, 860 W. Baseline Road, for $26.7 million.

According to the deal the two companies inked in February, Affinity will continue to manage the communities. Two other Affinity senior living communities in Colorado, one in Aurora and another in Colorado Springs, appear to still be under Affinity ownership.

Affinity’s portfolio is composed of nearly 3,900 rental units, mostly in the Pacific Northwest. The press release states that “the acquisition will enable Welltower to strategically scale the geographic reach of its Wellness Housing portfolio into markets with a projected five-year 55+ population growth more than 2.5 times higher than the U.S. average. Post-closing, the portfolio will continue to be managed by Affinity subject to a terminable and aligned management contract.”

Shankh Mitra, CEO of Toledo, Ohio-based Welltower, said in a prepared statement that the deal allows Welltower to bring its portfolio to nearly 25,000 units, in 55+ senior communities.
“Our Wellness Housing portfolio helps address the significant and growing unmet demand for wellness-focused rental housing for seniors,” Mitra said in the release. “These communities provide thoughtful amenities and targeted social programming for empty nesters and active adults at moderate price points. I am thrilled to work with Darin and his team at Affinity. In the time we have gotten to know Darin over the last few years, he has shown to be a man of great integrity and thoughtfulness, with a true compass on the future direction of how older Americans want to live.”

Welltower, a real estate investment trust, owns interests in properties in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, consisting of senior housing and post-acute communities and outpatient medical properties, the release stated.

• *This story has been corrected to name the Lafayette senior community as Affinity at Lafayette. The seller was Traditions at Lafayette, which should not be confused with a different community called Traditions at Lafayette at 2500 S. Public Road, Lafayette.

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