Ritz-Carlton Developer Pivots to Luxury Senior Housing

Dallas-based senior housing owner and developer Silverstone Healthcare Company has been in business for about five years and is working with a well-established operator on about $1 billion worth of projects. Still, it’s possible that many industry players haven’t heard of them.

“We’ve kept a very low profile,” Chairman and CEO Denny Alberts told Senior Housing News.

The Silverstone team may be relatively new to senior housing, but it’s no stranger to luxury real estate. Alberts and his current business partner, John Goff, developed the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Dallas when they ran Crescent Real Estate Equities Inc., a publicly-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that they sold to Morgan Stanley in 2007.

The duo decided to stick with what they knew when they made the move into senior housing.

Consequenty, the company has developed six “luxury” senior living communities in Dallas, Florida and the Washington, D.C. area—three markets where Silverstone leaders have worked in real estate in the past.

“We know those markets,” Alberts said. “We’re comfortable in those markets.”

In addition, Silverstone currently has four senior living communities in development in Washington, D.C. Once these are completed, Silverstone’s 10 total senior housing communities will have a fair market value in excess of $1 billion, according to the company.

Soon, Silverstone will officially open HarborChase of The Park Cities in Dallas, which will serve as the brand’s flagship location, primarily due to where it’s situated, Alberts said.

“It’s in a market that can support it both from a demographic standpoint, and a wealth and income standpoint,” he explained.

At eight stories tall, HarborChase of The Park Cities is also Silverstone’s first urban mid-rise product—and from here on out, that’s exactly the type of community the company plans to build.

“In the past, they’ve been two or three stories, but they are absolutely of the same quality,” Alberts said. “Best-in-class.”

Rents at HarborChase of The Park Cities will range from $6,500 per month to about $12,000 per month, though average rent is expected to be approximately $7,500.

Because Silverstone has embraced the high-end market, Alberts doesn’t expect the company to grow aggressively.

“We’re not trying to build 50 of these, or 100 of them,” Alberts said. “We’re not trying to be one of the mega-companies in the industry.”

All of Silverstone’s communities are or will be operated by Vero Beach, Florida-based Harbor Retirement Associates (HRA), which is also a partner in Silverstone’s real estate investments. When Silverstone met with HRA, “it was an instantaneous fit,” Alberts said.

“The most important decision you’ll make is, ‘Who’s your operator?’” he added.

HRA currently operates about 30 senior housing communities nationwide and has announced plans to embark on a $450 million growth spurt. Tim Smick, the provider’s chairman and managing partner, served as CEO of Sunrise Senior Living from 1996 to 1999. The company is undertaking workforce training initiatives with an affluent clientele in mind.

Additionally, Alberts respects the providers he believes are Silverstone’s biggest competitors in the Dallas market—Dallas-based Tradition Senior Living and Houston-based Belmont Village Senior Living—but is not concerned about market saturation, despite oversupply concerns industry-wide and in Texas specifically.

“There’s plenty of room for Tradition, Belmont and us,” he said.