Pathway to Living Tapped to Manage Senior Housing Portfolio
Welltower chose the operating firm to manage properties in Ohio and Illinois totaling 1,105 units.
Reflections Retirement. Image courtesy of Pathway to Living
Pathway to Living has partnered with health care REIT Welltower to increase its management footprint by 40 percent. The senior housing company will manage Welltower’s 22-property senior housing portfolio of communities located throughout Illinois and Ohio. Pathway also will serve as a minority investor in the acquisition of the senior housing portfolio.
The Welltower portfolio includes independent living, assisted living and memory care communities, totaling 1,105 units. Between the two Midwest states, 16 of the portfolio’s communities are located in Illinois with the remaining six properties in Ohio.
For Pathway, the partnership with Welltower will allow the senior housing operator to expand into the Ohio market while growing its management footprint in the Midwest.
Jerry Finis, CEO of Pathway to Living, told Multi-Housing News that the senior housing operator is also looking at expanding its reach to the southeastern U.S. and had looked at some opportunities in Florida prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finis also said during a September senior housing conference that locations further outside city centers could better target the senior living sector’s middle market.
AIMING FOR PRE-COVID OCCUPANCY
Brookstone Estates of Vandalia. Image courtesy of Pathway to Living
As for the Illinois and Ohio properties, Finis said in prepared remarks that Pathway will take a strategic approach in filling up the communities in Illinois and Ohio.
The operator’s strategy includes a comprehensive value-add program that includes refreshing common areas, addressing deferred maintenance issues within communities and infrastructure updates including fixing aging sidewalks, parking lots and mechanical systems. Pathway noted that the capital investments were meant to attract potential tenants, but also is pursuing these renovations to improve the quality of life for its residents.
“The strategy for this kind of portfolio is to really bring it back to pre-COVID occupancy,” Finis told MHN. “That’s the play and that’s our goal here.”
