Inland Private Capital Corp., an Oak Brook, Illinois-based investor, has entered the senior housing sector by forming a strategic relationship with Spectrum Retirement Communities, a national owner, operator and developer of senior living communities.

Spectrum has 45 communities under management, including Lombard Place Assisted Living and Memory Care in suburban Lombard, Burr Ridge Senior Living in Burr Ridge and several others in the Chicago region.

“When looking at the historic investment performance for this asset class — its recession-resiliency, growing demand drivers — in addition to the current supply and demand imbalance that exists, we believe the senior living sector is well-positioned to offer our marketplace a product that intersects healthcare and real estate — each nearly 20% of U.S. gross domestic product and growing,” said Nati Kiferbaum, senior vice president and head of investment product strategy of IPC.

The U.S. will have more than 14 million middle-income seniors by 2029, about 6 million more than today, according to National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care Chief Economist Beth Burnham Mace.

“This is a huge underserved market, but it will grow enormously in the future,” NIC founder Robert Kramer said.

Phil Shapiro Senior Living LLC serves as IPC’s senior living adviser.

IPC has greatly diversified its holdings over the past several years, Kiferbaum said. It has executed more than $1B in transactions throughout niche sectors such as self-storage, student housing and hospitality, while continuing to invest in core sectors such as apartments, industrial, office and retail.