The Waters of Oak Creek, a 136-unit senior living community near Drexel Town Square, has sold for $50 million. An affiliate of Minnetonka, Minnesota-based The Waters Senior Living Management LLC sold the property to an affiliate of Tustin, California-based real estate investment trust Sabra Health Care.
The sale, first reported by BizTimes, covers a community that sits in the Drexel Town Square area of Oak Creek, according to The Waters' own property listing. The facility opened its doors in June 2019 and includes 136 apartment homes in total: 120 private, amenity-filled one- and two-bedroom independent-living and assisted-living residences, plus 16 private studio apartments in a secure memory-care neighborhood, per the property's description.
Who's Involved in the Deal
The Waters Senior Living Management LLC is a developer, owner, and operator of senior living communities throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin, BizTimes reports. The buyer is an affiliate of Sabra Health Care, a real estate investment trust based in Tustin, California.
A Hot Market for Senior Housing Deals
The Oak Creek sale lands amid a broader run-up in senior housing values nationally. According to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care, senior housing occupancy across 31 primary markets climbed to 89.9% in the second quarter of 2026, a 0.4 percentage point increase that pushed occupied units to a record level, per NIC. Independent-living occupancy rose to 91.3% and assisted-living occupancy rose to 88.4% during the same quarter, while year-over-year inventory growth stayed below 1.0% for a fifth consecutive quarter. NIC also reported that rolling four-quarter pricing per unit for senior housing and nursing transactions was near or at historic highs.
That tight supply picture extends into the Midwest. Plante Moran's mid-year 2026 market snapshot found that occupancy rates in the East North Central region, which includes Wisconsin along with Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Ohio, continued reaching new highs; absorption outpaced inventory growth in the independent- and assisted-living segments, according to Plante Moran. The firm also noted that construction inflation had largely stabilized, though material-cost pressure remained a factor in project planning.
More Wisconsin Projects in the Pipeline
Demand for senior living accommodations is driving new construction across the northeastern part of the state, The Business News reported. Right at Home executive Brady Schwab told the outlet that the Sheboygan market alone has more than 36,000 residents age 65 or older, nearly 21% of its total population. SSM Health is planning a $42 million, 180,000-square-foot complex with 136 units in Fond du Lac expected to open in 2028, while a new CopperStone Senior Living facility in Fox Crossing has added 56 assisted-living units and 20 memory-care units, the same report states.
Other recent transactions show similar price points to the Oak Creek sale. LTC Properties announced a $40 million acquisition of a Wisconsin senior living community with 147 independent-living, assisted-living, and memory-care units, completed at an approximately 7.2% capitalization rate with an anticipated unlevered internal rate of return in the low- to mid-teens, according to StreetInsider. Health Dimensions Group will continue managing that property under the new ownership.
