HOUSTON — Belmont Village Senior Living, a Houston-based developer, owner and operator of seniors housing, has hired longtime REIT veteran Mercedes Kerr as its new president.
Kerr will continue to serve in her current role as executive vice president of business and relationship management at Welltower until July 1. She will officially join Belmont Village on Sept. 3. Welltower, the largest REIT in the seniors housing space, is the owner of several Belmont-operated communities.
Kerr joined Welltower in 2008 and has served in her current position since 2016. During her tenure, she was responsible for identifying, building and managing relationships with seniors housing operators, health systems, real estate developers and financial institutions to grow the company’s healthcare real estate portfolio.
Kerr is on the Executive Committee of the American Seniors Housing Association (ASHA), the Board of Counselors for the University of Southern California’s Davis School of Gerontology, and the Board of the California Assisted Living Association (CALA).
Prior to joining Welltower in 2008, Kerr served as vice president of acquisitions at HCP Inc. and before that as a member of the consulting division of Ernst & Young LLP. Kerr graduated from the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara in Mexico and obtained a master’s degree in real estate development from the University of Southern California.
Currently Belmont Village has 29 operating properties, totaling approximately 4,000 units in seven states and Mexico City.