Welltower Inc., a leader in healthcare infrastructure, and Hines, the international real estate firm, have closed with a confidential major institutional investor on a limited partnership interest for the development of Sunrise at East 56th Street, an assisted living and memory care community in midtown Manhattan.
The transaction represents the first joint venture of this type in the development of an urban senior living building with a major institutional investor, a global real estate firm and a health care REIT.
Construction of the 16-story, 130,000 s/f facility is now underway, and completion is scheduled for the first quarter of 2020.
“When Sunrise at East 56th Street, or ‘The Welltower’ as the building is also known, opens in two years, it will be the most modern and technologically advanced residential senior care building in the world,” explained Welltower CEO, Tom DeRosa.
“This important real estate project has attracted the attention of a broad array of health care providers and technology companies and will now have a major institutional investor as its partner. This underscores the fact that health care real estate is the next major institutional asset class.”
“This partnership marks another important milestone as we move closer to our goal of addressing the vastly underserved senior population in need of assisted living and memory care services in Manhattan,” stated Hines Senior Managing Director Tommy Craig.
Located at the intersection of the Midtown East commercial district and the Upper East Side residential district, Sunrise at East 56th Street is inspired by classic Park Avenue apartment homes and updated to include energy-efficient design features.
Designed by SLCE Architects, LLP, the primary community spaces will include oversized floor-to-ceiling windows intended to maintain a close physical connection between the residents and the neighborhood.
A variety of community spaces are interspersed throughout the building, creating mini neighborhoods on each floor. Outdoor living spaces on the fourth, 11th and 16th floors, will provide landscaped terraces for residents to enjoy throughout the year, creating a safe, multi-sensory environment.
The development will also feature 7,000 s/f of retail at its base.
