GH Partners Forms Korea Senior Living Management JV With US Operator Thrive

Seoul-based GH Partners has teamed with US operator Thrive on a joint venture to offer management services in South Korea’s senior living sector.

Thrive-GHP will initially focus exclusively on the active adult and independent living segments, enabling South Korean seniors to live in a supportive and safe environment, the companies said Tuesday in a release. The JV will coordinate and supervise third-party care in order to delay or eliminate the need for a future move to a higher level of care.

Despite an elderly population growing at the fastest pace of any nation, Asia’s fourth-largest economy trails other developed countries in the formation of a robust senior living industry, according to the companies.

“Through combining the South Korean team and established presence of GH Partners with the global senior living experience of Thrive, Thrive-GHP will offer a world-class management solution capable of the quality of oversight, reporting, and compliance demanded by institutional-grade investors,” they said.

Assisting Owner-Developers

No financial details were disclosed for the JV deal, which takes place as South Korea is set to become a “super-aged society” next year with over 20 percent of the nation’s population being 65 years or older. The proportion is projected to increase to one third by 2050, according to the OECD.

Thrive-GHP bills itself as a conduit for property owners and developers to speed their entry into the senior living sector via services including brand licensing, technology partnerships, economies of scale through buying power and customer service training programmes.

Founded in 2008, Atlanta-based Thrive has developed, owned and operated more than $2.5 billion in senior living communities worldwide. The company’s previous joint ventures include senior living businesses in Britain and Singapore.

GH Partners is the largest multi-family property manager in South Korea. Led by founder and CEO Chaewook Im, the company managed more than 19,500 rental apartment units countrywide as of the second quarter of this year.

Race to Serve Market

Mingtiandi reported last December that Seoul-based Mastern Investment Management and local builder STS Development were seeking to raise at least $150 million from Asian investors for South Korea’s first senior housing development fund.

The fund marked STS’s entry into the senior housing market, after the company formed a joint venture with Caredoc, an online listings platform for senior care facilities, in July 2022.

Lotte Group has also entered the senior living market, with the conglomerate launching its Vitality & Liberty brand of premium serviced residential complexes for the elderly in 2022. The first project, VL Osiria, is scheduled to open in Busan in October with 574 residential units.