NEW YORK CITY-Following its SEC filing in late August to raiseup to $1.5 billion for a healthcare REIT, American Realty Capitalon Wednesday got the ball rolling with two key hires. ARC and itsaffiliated broker-dealer Realty Capital Securities tapped JohnWilkins and Heather Gentry, both formerly of Grubb & Ellis, toassist in the rollout of the new venture, known as American RealtyCapital Healthcare Trust.

Targeting medical office properties across the US, ARCHT marksthe fourth in a series of sector-specific non-traded REITs launchedby the ARC group of companies. In 2007, American Realty CapitalTrust was launched, followed two years later by American RealtyCapital New York Recovery REIT and Phillips Edison—ARC ShoppingCenter REIT.

Wilkins joins the healthcare REIT as its chief marketingofficer, after an eight-year stint as senior regional VP for TripleNet Properties/Grubb & Ellis Securities. There, he wasresponsible for raising equity for four non-traded REITs andnumerous private placement programs, including 1031 transactions.Previously, he worked as an SVP in Jones Lang LaSalle’s investmentbanking group.