Kiwi retirement village operator expands into Melbourne

Jonathan ChancellorNovember 6, 2011

New Zealand retirement village operator Ryman Healthcare has bought a site in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, starting its expansion into Australia.

Ryman told shareholders 15 months ago that it was looking for Australian acquisitions. Ryman owns 24 New Zealand retirement villages with 5,700 residents.

It plans for the Wheelers Hill site to be a medium-density village built along similar lines to the villages it has developed in Auckland and Wellington.

There will be a mix of independent apartments, serviced apartments, a village centre and an aged-care centre.

Ryman lifted underlying profit by 17% to a record $72 million for the March year.

The Melbourne land purchase will lift the company’s landbank to over 2,500 units and beds.

Statistics NZ has estimated the number of New Zealanders aged 75 and over will increase from 250,000 to 516,000 over the next 20 years. In Australia the number aged 75-plus is set to double to 2.8 million.

Existing aged-care facilities at Wheelers Hill include The Willows and Cumberland View.

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

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