Healthpeak Properties establishes new senior housing REIT called Janus Living.

Denver-headquartered investment trust Healthpeak Properties has recently established a new REIT known as Janus Living, which will oversee its extensive senior housing portfolio comprising 34 communities and 10,422 units, the company revealed.

Janus Living, by virtue of its unit count, will rank among the largest owners of senior living communities across the United States. As part of this development, Healthpeak submitted a confidential draft registration statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission last December in connection with a proposed initial public offering for Janus Living. The company expects to finalize the IPO within the first half of the current year.

Scott Brinker, President, and CEO of Healthpeak, will assume the leadership role for Janus Living. Brinker acknowledged the challenge faced by Healthpeak’s senior housing platform in garnering recognition from public markets due to its relative scale within the organization. He expressed optimism that the IPO would help unlock this value, empowering Healthpeak to utilize its industry acumen more effectively and pursue a robust pipeline of senior housing acquisitions, including deals totaling around $675 million currently in progress.

Distinctly structured as a pure-play RIDEA senior housing REIT, Janus Living will not only manage the initial portfolio of 34 properties but also oversee planned acquisitions and venture into the development of additional senior living communities, Healthpeak disclosed. This strategic move aims to leverage alternative capital sources and support the growth strategies of Healthpeak’s Outpatient Medical and Lab sectors, while fostering the pursuit of senior housing investments using a dedicated cost of capital at Janus Living.

Healthpeak emphasized the meticulous selection of seasoned leadership and a robust back-office infrastructure for managing Janus Living, underpinned by stock ownership alignment and a mutually beneficial management agreement. Alongside this, two prominent figures from Healthpeak’s leadership, namely, Board Chair Kathy Sandstrom and CEO Scott Brinker, will serve on Janus Living’s five-member board, with the remaining three positions slated for independent directors. The day-to-day operations of Janus Living will be spearheaded by other key Healthpeak executives.

In a joint evaluation by Healthpeak’s board and management team, Sandstrom highlighted the transaction’s capacity to maximize immediate shareholder value while positioning the portfolio optimally for future growth and performance. The 34 properties under Janus Living’s purview are strategically located in high-growth regions distinguished by significant and expanding senior populations, as highlighted in a presentation by Healthpeak earlier this week. The specific operators of these communities were not disclosed in the announcement.