Jeff Hanson, chairman and CEO of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II, joined REIT.com for a CEO Spotlight video interview at REITWorld 2013: NAREIT’s Annual Convention for All Things REIT at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis.
Hanson discussed the trends in fundamentals in health care real estate. Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II owns properties in the areas of medical office buildings, assisted living facilities, skilled nursing and hospitals.
“Everybody is well aware these days of the demographic trends,” Hanson said. “I think the demographic trends that will literally reshape the fabric of the country over the next several decades bode, frankly, very well for anything that’s health care related, particularly the four clinical classes.”
Hanson also offered some insight into his company’s plans to expand internationally. Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II owns $2.2 billion in assets across 30 states in United States and the United Kingdom. Earlier this year, the firm made what Hanson described as a “significant and strategic acquisition” of the Caring Homes senior housing portfolio in the U.K. for approximately $470 million.
“What I can say is in the near term and the midterm, you’ll see us continue to grow with Caring Homes as one of the best operators of senior housing in the U.K.,” he said. “We’ll fuel—as a capital partner—their growth. The relationship is very important to us in that regard. That’s our goal with any single-tenant operator across the three single-tenant classes, whether it’s here in the U.S. or abroad. As we continue to round out the build out of our portfolio prior to a strategic event, other than the built-in growth that we have with Caring Homes in the U.K., you can expect to see us continue to build the portfolio out here in the U.S.”
Hanson also talked about the prospects for expansion domestically.
“We all know that there’s over a trillion-dollar inventory base in health care-related real estate right here in our backyard—an incredible aggregation opportunity,” he said. “It’s only 8 or 9 percent institutionally owned, which is far below any of the other product sectors. So we see a lot of growth potential across all four clinical classes.”