Hines, Welltower shell out $115M for East Side development site

Property records reveal price for location of future assisted-living project

Healthcare REIT Welltower and Houston-based developer Hines paid $115 million to assemble the East Side development site where they plan to build an assisted living facility for seniors, property records show.

The partners did not disclose the price they paid for the two adjacent properties at the corner of Lexington Avenue and East 56th Street when they announced the acquisition last week, but property records filed with the city Thursday show the combined price to be $115 million.

The development team paid $60.9 million to purchase 677 Lexington Avenue from the Riese Organization and another $54 million to buy the adjacent property at 681-685 Lexington Avenue from Himmel + Meringoff Properties.

Peter Hauspurg, Brian Ezratty, Ronald Solarz, and Adelaide Polsinelli at Eastern Consolidated represented the sellers.

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They plan to demolish the existing buildings, which sit a stone’s throw away from Billionaires’ Row, and develop a 15-story building for those who need assisted-living and memory-care services.

While Welltower regularly invests in assisted living facilities and housing for seniors, this will be the first such project for Hines, one of the developers behind the 82-story MoMa Tower at 53 West 53rd Street designed by architect Jean Nouvel.

The company was recently selected to manage Trinity Real Estate and Norges Bank’s 11-building, $3.55 billion Hudson Square portfolio.