A Vancouver-based REIT specializing in health care properties added a Little Village senior care facility to its roster of Chicago holdings, expanding its foothold in the city’s surging elder care market.
Invesque paid $23 million last month to acquire the 197-bed California Gardens Nursing & Rehabilitation Center at 2829 South California Avenue, according to Cook County property records. The seller was an entity controlled by Robert Hartman, chairman of Lincolnwood-based NuCare Services Corporation.
The purchase gives the REIT ownership of 15 Chicago-area nursing facilities, all operated by the Symphony Post Acute Network.
California Gardens hosts services for cardiac care, orthopedic and stroke rehabilitation, according to its website. The facility was built in 1977 and remodeled in 2012, the same year it entered into an improvement agreement with the Illinois Human Rights Authority after an investigation that found medication was not being property distributed.
Invesque has been on a purchasing tear since 2017. In two years, it executed a ninefold expansion in its portfolio of medical offices, senior housing and nursing facilities across the United States and Canada. The trust now owns 102 properties, spanning some 8,500 beds and 577,000 square feet of medical offices across 20 states and two Canadian provinces, according to its website.
But the market valuation for Invesque has been on a steady downward slide since the trust went public in June 2016. As of Thursday, shares were valued at $6.10 each, giving the firm a roughly $336 million market cap, after having traded above $10 per share in 2016.
Nonetheless, the trust reported a 27 percent year-over-year revenue boost during the first quarter this year, and it more than tripled its operating income during the same period.
Heavy investor interest has recently poured into Chicago-area real estate aimed at seniors, as the country’s aging population pushes up demand. Earlier this year, Chicago-based investment giant Waterton bought a controlling share in the Pathway to Living brand of senior homes, backing plans for a nationwide expansion.
And last week, Orlando-based developer Ponte Health unveiled a proposal to build 245 assisted-living units and 200,000 square feet of medical offices at 424 South Wabash Avenue.
Ryan Companies last year unveiled plans for a 248-unit senior housing facility in the city’s Portage Park neighborhood, but that proposal hit a snag in the City Council last month.
And construction contractor Skender announced Thursday it broke ground on the Residences at Crystal Lake, a 60-unit affordable housing complex for seniors being developed by Turnstone Development in northwest suburb.
Ventas, a Chicago-based REIT specializing in health care and senior housing, posted revenue gains last quarter despite lagging income from the senior homes it owns. In an earnings call last month, CEO Debra Cafaro pointed to a wide pipeline of senior home construction that might be outpacing demand.
Representatives of Invesque and the Symphony Post Acute Network did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.