Funds for purchases and construction will come from Sunrise and PRICOA, the real estate private equity division of Prudential Real Estate Investors, according to their share of the stake, as well as from third-party lenders. The plan involves the development of as many as 50 properties over the next five to seven years. "Regarding our developments in the UK and Germany, we aren't disclosing our locations," Sunrise senior vice president of corporate strategy and capital markets Charles A. Post tells GlobeSt.com. "What I can say is, similar to the US, our focus will be on top major metro areas."

While Sunrise has more than 210 properties in the US and Canada, the company currently has just one open property in England, three-year-old Sunrise at Frognal House in Kent, but three more properties are scheduled to open there in the near future. Sunrise of Virginia Water in Surrey will open later this month, and another property in Surrey and one in Herts are scheduled to open next year. The company notes it has spent the last two years preparing for its entrée into the German assisted-living market.