NEW YORK CITY and CHICAGO — Rockwood Capital and Doyenne Healthcare Capital (DHC) have formed a joint venture to invest up to $100 million of equity in seniors housing communities across the country. Financial terms of the venture were not disclosed.
“We view seniors housing as a complementary strategy for our existing ‘live-space’ investment program,” says David Becker, co-managing partner of Rockwood. “We believe that significant demographic tailwinds continue to support the sector. We also believe that the operational disruption caused by the pandemic coupled with the current capital markets dislocation creates a favorable investment environment for seniors housing.”
As chief investment officer of DHC, Manisha Bathija leads the company’s acquisition and disposition efforts. Prior to founding DHC, she served as senior investment officer for Ventas, where she was responsible for originating, negotiating and executing acquisitions and development opportunities for the company’s seniors housing portfolio. Earlier, she served in a variety of roles in the healthcare investment banking group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. She holds an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and bachelor’s degrees in accounting and chemistry from Virginia Tech.
Kristen Ahrens, co-founder and chief operating officer at DHC, leads the company’s portfolio and asset management activities. She was previously a principal at Capitol Seniors Housing, a Washington, D.C.-based seniors housing private equity firm, where she focused on expanding capital, lending and operating relationships. Earlier, she was a managing director at CapitalOne Healthcare Finance. She holds an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Florida.