Greystone announced the launch of Greystone Healthcare Investments, to be led by Frank Small as Chief Investment Officer. An extension of the firm’s expansive healthcare real estate capital services, the new platform will focus on providing equity to owners of healthcare facilities, particularly post-acute care and skilled nursing facilities.
Leveraging a sale-leaseback model, providers can sell ownership of their healthcare property and maintain operations and management of the facility. The strategy enables access to equity capital and the ability for a provider to focus on operational strengths.
For those investing in seniors housing, market fundamentals point to rising demand for skilled nursing and post-acute care facilities, with Irving Levin Associates reporting that volume for long-term care acquisitions hit a three-year high in 2017, the fifth highest year in history. Dubbed the “silver tsunami,” the baby boomer generation is expected to create a long-term and successively growing demand for skilled nursing facilities.
“The healthcare sector presents both a wealth of opportunity for investment and a host of unique challenges with an extraordinarily high barrier to entry,” said Mr. Small. “Greystone’s deep experience in healthcare finance creates a unique position for building a successful sale leaseback platform. With today’s razor-thin margins in the healthcare industry, this financing vehicle can prove to be a game-changing strategy for many operators who excel at management and want to focus on that core competency.”
Prior to joining Greystone Healthcare Investments, Mr. Small was a Managing Director at GMF Capital, where he pursued investment opportunities and potential sponsor partners for healthcare strategies across the U.S. and in the United Kingdom. Previously, he also led healthcare investment at 12 North Capital, a firm he founded, and as a Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group. Prior to that, he completed over $4 billion of fully realized investments as global head of healthcare real estate at JER Partners. Beginning his career in roles at Cerberus Real Estate and JLL, Mr. Small earned an MBA at NYU Stern School of Business and a Bachelor’s degree at Princeton University.
“After decades of honing our expertise in all facets of healthcare finance, this is a natural next step for us,” said Steve Rosenberg, founder and CEO of Greystone. “Working with healthcare facility owners and operators on a daily basis, we are able to identify the scenarios in which ownership and operations best flourish as separate disciplines. The industry’s increasing pressures on operators creates an opportunity for Greystone to provide value not just as a real estate owner, but as an experienced partner.”