The investment management firm Blackstone (NYSE: BX) is offloading its portfolio of 90 senior housing properties, incurring a $600 million loss on an investment of $1.8 billion.
The Wall Street Journal reports Blackstone has been selling off the properties in a series of one-off transactions, with some transactions ending with losses of more than 70% compared with their purchase price. Blackstone began making investments in this sector in 2017 amid rising demand for senior housing but started to quietly whittle down this portfolio in 2022 after the pandemic drove up operational costs for these facilities – the company invested more than $100 million on upgrades for their properties.
To date, the company has sold about 70 of its senior facilities, as is reportedly in talks to sell off the remaining properties. A Blackstone spokesman said the pandemic created major losses across the senior housing sector, adding that its losses were part of a $33.5 billion fund that otherwise generated strong returns.
