Welltower pays $101M for East Bay assisted living facility

Byron Park has 187 units in Walnut Creek, a hot spot for senior housing

Welltower's Shankh Mitra with 1700 Tice Valley Boulevard (LinkedIn, Google Maps)
Welltower's Shankh Mitra with 1700 Tice Valley Boulevard (LinkedIn, Google Maps)

Ohio-based healthcare REIT Welltower paid $101 million to buy a Walnut Creek assisted living facility, according to public records.

Byron Park was sold by PGIM and Kisco Senior Living for about $540,000 per unit.

The partners purchased Byron Park in a joint venture in 2017 for $77 million. Kisco completed a $5 million renovation of the 187-unit property a year ago.

Among the amenities offered by Byron Park, located at 1700 Tice Valley Boulevard, are an all-day restaurant-style dining center, heated swimming pool and spa, a wellness program, courtyard with sitting areas, shaded patio, greenhouse and a library.

Byron Park sold for more than double that of another East Bay assisted living deal this summer. Cortona Park Brentwood was acquired by Cogir Real Estate in July for $260,000 per unit.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

Welltower continues to expand by acquiring assisted living facilities in California. Last month the company acquired a 160-unit property in Coachella Valley for $49 million, and two Sacramento properties in February for more than $40 million. And this isn’t a first entry for Welltower in the Bay Area; it acquired a San Francisco property in a joint venture with Related Companies and Atria Senior Living in 2019.

There is currently no vacancy for assisted living for the elderly in Walnut Creek, where the demand for such accommodations is assisted living for the elderly is even more prevalent in Walnut Creek compared to other East Bay cities. The median age for Walnut Creek is 48.3 years, compared to an average age in the East Bay of 38.2 years, according to Census data.

The state of assisted living facilities in Walnut Creek follows national trends, according to a report by the National Investment Center. Assisted living occupancy increased 0.9 percentage points from 80.5 percent in the first quarter to 81.4 percent in the second quarter. This is the fourth consecutive quarter of occupancy growth. The metric has increased 3.4 percentage points from a pandemic low of 78 percent in the second quarter of 2021.

According to the report, demand for assisted living is at the highest it has been since 2005 while inventory increased by a lesser 3,489 units, largely due to the pandemic-driven slowdown in construction starts in 2020. Starts were again weak in the second quarter of 2022, and units under construction measured the lowest since 2015.

Read more