Welltower (NYSE: WELL) has expanded its relationship with a handful of operators in its senior housing portfolio, including Oakmont Management Group, Cogir Management and Treplus Communities.

The Toledo, Ohio-based real estate investment trust (REIT) on Tuesday announced it had agreed to purchase seven senior living communities for a total investment of approximately $344 million, with Oakmont Management Group slated to manage them under the company’s “RIDEA 3.0” structure.

The seven communities are located in Oakmont’s home state of California, and include four rental properties and three continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs). With its acquisition, Welltower added to its senior housing portfolio Fountaingrove Lodge, the nation’s first LGBTQ-focused CCRC.

The newly acquired communities expands Welltower’s partnership with Oakmont to a total of 22 senior living communities in California, with three properties currently in development.

“We are excited about the meaningful expansion of our Oakmont-operated portfolio since the relationship was first seeded through the purchase of two properties in 2015,” said Shankh Mitra, Welltower’s CEO and CIO.

The sale could just be the tip of the iceberg, with Oakmont President and CEO Courtney Siegel noting in a press release regarding the deal that Oakmont expects “further significant expansion” of the Welltower-Oakmont relationship “over the next decade.”

“We are excited to meaningfully expand our strategic relationship with Welltower through the acquisition of these seven communities in our target markets,” Siegel said.

Welltower also on Tuesday announced an expansion of its relationship with Canada-based Cogir through an acquisition of eight class-A senior housing communities for a purchase price of $389 million. The REIT entered into a forward purchase agreement to acquire an additional community currently under development.

The deal builds off of momentum the two companies started years ago.

“We’re basically now at a point of growth where we, I think, intended to be in that 2019/2020-era,” Cogir CEO David Eskenazy told Senior Housing News in April.

In addition to deepening ties with Oakmont and Cogir, Welltower also acquired a portfolio of three, class-A communities in the Midwest with Treplus Communities. The communities have individual cottage-style units, clubhouses, around-the-clock concierge services and offer residents a wellness-oriented social lifestyle, according to the REIT.

Since 4Q20, Welltower has made $7 billion in gross investments, with the REIT acquiring more than 29,000 senior living units in that time, representing an average investment of $20.6 million per property. In early April, the company announced it had deployed $1.3 billion in capital in the first quarter alone, making it one of the most active starts to the year for investment activity in the company’s history.

Source: Senior Housing News

O&I Development Launched by the proven leadership of Oakmont Management Group, O & I Development is comprised of experienced construction and development professionals who are highly skilled in all aspects of acquisition, entitlement, development, construction, and management of senior living projects. The Company boasts over 80 combined years of real estate and construction experience..