NEW YORK CITY-As the New York arm of Lee & Associates continues to expand its footprint in the Manhattan market, the brokerage firm is now creating a national platform in two booming niche sectors: senior housing and healthcare. The firm has tapped ex-Jones Lang LaSalle managing directors Michael Berne and Richard Donohue to lead Lee NYC’s new senior housing and healthcare services group, GlobeSt.com has learned exclusively.
Berne tells GlobeSt.com that the duo moved over to Lee because of the “great opportunity” to build a new program in two dynamic areas from the ground-up. “The senior housing and healthcare sectors are really heating up, and one of the things that gets people to sit up and take notice about what’s going on with senior housing is when I tell them that 10,000 people turn 65 everyday in the United States,” he says. “And they are not only turning 65, but they are living a lot longer and healthier.”
Given the aging of the Baby Boomer population, the trend is creating greater demand for medical office, assisted living centers and other age-restricted communities. “So we saw an opportunity at Lee & Associates nationally to basically umbrella all 47 offices with a seniors housing healthcare practice,” he says.
Although the team has only been at the firm for one month, the reception has been “phenomenal,” says Donohue. He says that the team has already begun “meaningful pursuits” in California, Michigan, New York and New Jersey.
“We are being enthusiastically embraced by all of our colleagues nationally,” he says. “There’s not a single head of any of the offices who has not come to us and said this is an exciting initiative that you guys have embarked upon and we’d like to somehow to work with you and figure out a way to expand your business.”
Previously, Donohue served as a consultant to the New York City Health and Hospitals Corp., where he advised the board and capital committee on all real estate matters. At JLL, Donohue teamed up with Berne to deliver a full-range of capital markets, consulting and brokerage services, which included age-restricted, assisted living, continuing care retirement communities, skilled nursing and memory care facilities.
With the 65+ population to skyrocket to 85 million by 2015, Donohue describes the new platform as “mutually advantageous” for everybody. “The reception that we are getting is extremely enthusiastic, and that’s not unusual because given the nature of Lee, which is very entrepreneurial, the folks in every one of these offices are open and willing to doing business of every type,” he says.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
