Michael Dell’s firm buys luxe senior living giant with ritzy NYC towers for $1B

The golden years just landed a billionaire backer.

BDT & MSD Partners, the investment firm that grew out of Michael Dell’s family office and still manages his clan’s money, is taking control of Sunrise Senior Living, the upscale operator behind two of Manhattan’s priciest addresses for the over-80 crowd.

The company announced the sale Tuesday. The seller is a Canadian public pension fund, and Sunrise’s top brass are putting in their own cash alongside the new majority owner. Nobody disclosed a price, but the buyer pegs the deal north of $1 billion, sources told the Wall Street Journal.

A billionaire’s money is pouring into the retirement business. BDT & MSD Partners, the investment firm that sprang from Michael Dell’s family office, is taking majority control of Sunrise Senior Living in a deal the buyer values above $1 billion. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
Sunrise has 230-plus communities across the US and Canada that house upward of 22,000 seniors. Sunrise

New Yorkers know the brand from Sunrise at East 56th, a 17-story, 151-unit tower at 139 E. 56th St.  that opened in December 2021, and The Apsley, a 19-story building at 2330 Broadway between 84th and 85th streets.

When The Apsley debuted in 2023, rents started at $15,000 a month for a studio and $24,000 for a two-bedroom. Currently, rates start at $17,069 a month.

Life inside comes with lessons and recitals from Juilliard students, studio time with working artists and Broadway outings that include a peek behind the curtain, CEO Jack Callison Jr. told The Journal.

Its Manhattan footprint includes Sunrise at East 56th, a 17-story, 151-unit tower at 139 E. 56th St. Sunrise
The Apsley, a 19-story building at 2330 Broadway on the Upper West Side. Residents there get Juilliard student recitals, art studio sessions and Broadway outings. Sunrise
The Apsley by Sunrise senior living center is pictured at Broadway and West 85th Street. Sunrise

The bet is simple. The oldest boomers turn 80 this year, and plenty of them have the bank accounts to age in style.

“The silver tsunami has been a topic since 1998,” Coburn Packard, who heads real estate equity at BDT & MSD, told The Journal. The difference now, he said, is that the long-predicted wave has finally shown up.

The numbers back him up. Occupancy across 31 big metro areas hit 90.4% in the third quarter, the best showing since COVID emptied out the industry, according to data firm NIC MAP.

Assisted living sank under 74% in the pandemic’s depths and now sits at 89.1%. NIC MAP also warns the country could come up more than 575,000 units short by 2030.

Sunrise has 230-plus communities in the US and Canada, home to upward of 22,000 seniors. Assisted living goes for around $10,000 a month before extra care gets tacked on. Most locations are better than 90% full and many have waiting lists, Callison said.

Assisted living across the company costs around $10,000 a month before extra care is added. Sunrise
The wager is that the oldest boomers, who turn 80 this year, have the wealth to age in style. Sunrise
Industry occupancy hit 90.4% in the third quarter, the strongest reading since the pandemic gutted the business, according to data firm NIC MAP. Most Sunrise properties have fewer than one in 10 rooms empty, and many have a line to get in, Callison said. Ekkasit A Siam – stock.adobe.com

It’s the first senior housing play for BDT & MSD, whose portfolio leans toward five-star getaways such as The Boca Raton, Four Seasons Hualalai and a piece of Auberge.

One wrinkle is that Sunrise owns less than a quarter of the buildings bearing its name and collects fees for running the rest. Both Manhattan towers were built with developer Hines and health care landlord Welltower.

Expansion is the plan. Sunrise has 50-plus projects on the drawing board with a construction tab near $7.5 billion. It breaks ground on six or seven a year and wants to reach 10 by 2030, Callison told the Journal, crediting a decision to hold on to its development staff through the pandemic and scoop up sites rivals walked away from.

Callison said in a statement that the company’s mission is building places that support “longer, healthier, and happier lives.”

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