Senior total care corporations CareDoc said on the 20th that it will push a joint project with real estate asset management corporations Kyobo Realco to reorganize financial-sector real estate assets into senior housing.
CareDoc and Kyobo Realco plan to ramp up an operating model that strategically repurposes idle real estate in prime urban locations owned by financial institutions into senior housing and care facilities.
Bank branches and similar sites are typically located where public transit and walkability are high. Access to medical, commercial and public institutions is likewise strong. By contrast, for senior housing facilities, securing sites for new senior housing is not easy, leaving urban supply short against surging demand. It is.
The two companies judged that idle real estate in the financial sector has optimal strengths as locations for senior facilities that will implement the "urban aging in place" (AIP) model, and moved to cooperate.
In particular, a key point of the project is that senior-friendly facilities in a community can be expanded densely like capillaries. Because commercial real estate will be redeployed as needed infrastructure for the community instead of being left vacant, it also has the advantage of realizing public value in terms of urban regeneration and local welfare. The real estate industry says it is unusual for the private sector to convert idle commercial facilities into senior housing.
CareDoc and Kyobo Realco will divide and carry out the business areas. Kyobo Realco will handle tasks such as discovering candidate sites, collecting information and conducting initial reviews, sales, investment advisory and arranging finance, as well as structuring plans in collaboration with affiliates and external partners.
CareDoc will take on the practical role of converting financial-sector real estate identified by Kyobo Realco into senior housing facilities. From proposing the business model and operating concept, reviewing business feasibility, and handling other permits and design to operational advisory, it will take on concrete roles for conversion to senior housing and actual operations.
Through this project, the two companies plan to build a leading model for converting idle financial-sector real estate into urban lifestyle senior housing and to create a standard model for converting idle commercial facilities into senior facilities needed by local communities. They are currently in talks with institutions holding idle asset in the financial sector to launch the project. The target asset and detailed project schedule will be disclosed sequentially later.
CareDoc is leading the domestic senior housing market based on solid experience operating senior facilities. It has steadily advanced its senior housing brand businesses, such as the Care Home series and Nursing Home. It is taking the lead in popularizing and standardizing senior housing by establishing Care Operation, Korea's first senior housing specialist operator, in a joint venture with global investment firm Invesco. Based on these capabilities, CareDoc plans to continue expanding businesses related to senior facilities and senior housing, ranging from nursing care facilities to silver towns.
CareDoc CEO Park Jae-byeong said, "We pursued this project to convert bank branches and other sites in core locations within communities into senior housing to broaden the residential options for older adults in cities in the era of super-aging," adding, "In cooperation with Kyobo Realco, we will introduce a new senior housing model that organically links care infrastructure within key areas."
Kyobo Realco CEO Lee Jong-tae said, "Idle real estate in the financial sector is an asset with high potential utility within the community," and added, "Based on CareDoc's senior housing expertise and Kyobo Realco's real estate asset management capabilities, we will develop a model that can make a tangible contribution to improving community infrastructure going forward."