The Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation Board is investing in healthcare real estate for the first time.
The US pension fund made a $50m (€47.9m) commitment to Focused Healthcare Partners’ Senior Housing Fund I, based on the recommendation of its investment consultant RVK.
Focus Healthcare Partners, which declined to comment, is planning to make all investments in North America.
The fund manager will consider a variety of investment structures, including direct equity, mezzanine debt and preferred equity investments.
According to its website, the company owns assets in a variety of states including Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, Arizona, Massachusetts, Washington, Alabama and Oklahoma.
Special situation opportunities that could include some distressed debt deals will also be considered.
A range of senior housing property types will be considered for the fund, including senior housing, skilled nursing, medical office and other healthcare properties.
Focus Healthcare has attracted institutional partners to its healthcare real estate strategy in the past, including Artemis Real Estate Partners and the University of California Board of Regents.
Ohio BWC has made investments in other funds focused on a single property type in the past, with capital invested in more traditional property types like industrial, apartments and hotels.
It has placed the investment with Senior Housing Fund I into the value-add sector of its real estate portfolio.
The investor has now invested in seven different funds, according to a board-meeting document.
The value of the investments totalled $130.4m, as of June of this year.
Ohio BWC, which has a total real estate portfolio valued at $2.5bn, has invested through funds split between core open-ended, core plus and value add.
