Catella Real Estate (CREAG) has acquired a portfolio of six standing senior housing assets in France. The portfolio totals an investment volume of €130m. The acquisition was carried out for the “Catella Wohnen Europa” and “Catella European Residential” Funds, two public AIF specializing in residential housing. The vendor is A Plus Finance.
The portfolio includes six new senior living communities, built between 2014 and 2017, managed by two of the sector’s leading operators in France – Domitys and Les Essentielle. The senior living communities have a total area of c.35,400m², of which c.30,700m² are residential space in 619 apartments. Hence c. 4,700m² comprise common areas sizing between 600m² and 1,000m² per asset. The portfolio is providing a long term and secured cash flow according to double-net and triple-net contracts.
“Like in many other European countries, France is facing a significant lack of homes for the elderly in combination with growing demand for an alternative to plain-old retirement homes respectively long-term care facilities. These are generally just covering the minimum of medical aspects but excluding social priorities of the new seniors’ generation, that is undergoing a major transformation in lifestyles. The expectation is to live in one’s private apartment and have every opportunity to voluntarily get help and services. Life in senior housing has to be for independent individuals that voluntarily choose to move, while they are in the best of help and do not need substantial care but can get customized support. With this portfolio all of this is already in place”, said Benjamin Ruther, responsible at CRIM for the portfolio.
Viktoria Hoffmann, at CRIM, commented: “The population of those aged 65 or over is set to grow between 2020 and 2050 to reach c. 20 million French seniors. There is a blatant contrast between our knowledge of demographic changes and the developer’s focus on building big apartments for big households, while we see an increasingly large number of small households, especially among the elderly. Therefore, we are doing the obvious: invest in independent senior housing. Although supply is far from meeting the demand for senior living independent facilities, the French market is much more covered and professional than the German market for example. Therefore we are very content that two of the French market leaders are operators of these premises.”
