A third Belgian nursing home investor has entered the Irish market with the purchase of nursing homes in Dublin and Cork.
Care Property Invest has agreed to pay €26.7 million for Elm Green Nursing Home, a 120-bed care centre with 27 independent living apartments in Castleknock, Dublin. It comes a month after the completion of its first transaction, the €6.2 million purchase of Ballincurrig Care Centre, a 55-bed nursing home in Cork.
The French operator DomusVi will run the Dublin nursing home, while Silver Stream Healthcare will operate the Cork property.
Care Property Invest joins Aedifica and Cofinimmo as Belgian investors that have entered the market here over the past 15 months. All three companies are listed on the Brussels stock exchange.
Since January 2021, Cofinimmo has invested €94 million in seven sites here.
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Aedifica has committed to invest €179 million in Ireland since its first purchase last February. Last week the company announced it will invest €32 million in the construction of a 149-bed care centre in Crumlin, in Dublin. The home, which is due to be completed by the end of 2023, will be operated by Bartra Healthcare.
In its latest bi-monthly report, property adviser CBRE said it could expect most investment in the nursing sector to be “focused on site acquisitions and development projects”.
Peter Van Heukelom, chief executive of Care Property Invest, said he believed Ireland had “considerable investment potential”.
“Ireland is struggling with a shortage of nursing home beds, while a large ageing population is also on its doorstep. This demand is fuelled by an ageing portfolio of existing healthcare infrastructure, which needs to be redeveloped to meet regulatory standards,” he said.
