Welltower Shifts Billions Toward Senior Housing Growth

Welltower is undertaking one of its largest strategic shifts yet, reallocating billions from medical office properties to senior housing to capture surging demand from America’s aging population.

The company announced $14 billion in transactions—either completed or under contract—to support the pivot toward rental senior living. Demographic projections show the number of Americans aged 80 and older will grow by more than 4 million by 2030, reaching 18.8 million.

The acquisitions include more than 700 senior housing communities totaling 46,000 units across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Welltower described the move as a key step in becoming “a pure-play rental housing platform focused on the rapidly expanding seniors population.”

Funding for the initiative will come from cash reserves and approximately $9 billion generated through asset sales, loan repayments, and capital recycling. The company currently owns more than 2,000 senior and wellness housing communities, though it has not clarified how many of the new acquisitions are included in that total.

As part of the transition, Welltower is exiting much of its medical office portfolio. Remedy Medical Properties and Kayne Anderson Real Estate have formed a joint venture to acquire roughly 18 million square feet of outpatient medical assets across 296 properties in 34 states. Although the purchase price was not disclosed, the deal may represent a substantial portion of Welltower’s planned $7.2 billion in medical office dispositions.

Remedy will handle leasing and management, while Welltower retains a preferred equity stake and profit interest. The joint venture now becomes the nation’s largest owner of outpatient medical buildings, with 52.4 million square feet across about 1,104 properties in 44 states. Remedy also plans to hire 170 former Welltower employees, bringing its workforce to 500 across 60 offices nationwide.

 “Welltower 3.0,” emphasizing its focus on sustainable growth,” said CEO Shankh Mitra. “By maintaining a long attention span and narrowing our focus on what truly matters, we believe we are better positioned than ever to achieve our North Star: the long-term compounding of per share earnings and cash flow growth for our existing owners.”

Welltower noted that the shift will also accelerate development of its Welltower Business System—a “complex adaptive system” designed to enhance operational efficiency and strengthen partnerships with operators.

Source: GlobeSt