Retirement village manager to recycle historic home for genteel boomers
LONDON: A retirement village developer/manager is to recycle a historic home as a genteel abode for boomers.
Ryman Healthcare, the Kiwi-listed aged care and retirement giant, expects to finalise design changes for a 230-resident facility on the Mornington Peninsula within months, its 14th Victorian project in less than a decade.
The centrepiece of the $317-million retirement village will be a heritage-listed, 42-room mansion on 8.9ha at 60-70 Kunyung Road, Mt Eliza, about 40km south of Melbourne.
Planning approval came late last year but only after a drawn-out legal battle ending in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal agreeing to revisions involving building sizes and setbacks.
“Our design team has been working to incorporate those conditions and we’re planning to lodge the plans with the council for endorsement in September,” Ryman Healthcare Australia general manager of development David Laing said.
Under the approved plans, the 135-year-old Moondah Mansion will become the centre of the village. Part of it will be demolished to make way for a new extension, while six buildings of up to four storeys will house 104 independent apartments, 27 assisted-living suites and a 60-bed aged-care centre.
“There’s some demolition of buildings on the site to be done, then construction is scheduled to start mid-to-late next year,” Laing said.
He said the Moondah Mansion would be restored and become the heart of the Mt Eliza village community.
“It will be where all the communal facilities will be located, including dining areas, a bar, cafe, cinema, indoor pool and gym.”
He expected to confirm the construction schedule in the coming weeks.
The mansion began life in 1888 as a home for pastoralist and racehorse owner James Grice.
Domestic airline entrepreneur Sir Reginald Ansett bought the site in 1947 and turned it into an hotel, but most recently it has served as home to the University of Melbourne’s Melbourne Business School.
It still includes an historic gatehouse, servants’ quarters, meeting and office spaces, several dining areas and storage facilities.
Online documents show Ryman acquired the site in September 2016, paying $37.5 million.
It expects to create 250 jobs during construction and about 200 permanent jobs once the village opens.
The aged-care and retirement provider came across the Tasman Sea in 2014 and now counts 14 locations in Australia—all of them in Victoria.
“When we expanded to Australia we wanted to focus on one state and Victoria was attractive for a number of reasons,” Laing said.
“It has a similar population to New Zealand, a robust housing market, and we identified a strong demand for our unique continuum of care model here.”
Five of the Victorian locations are open and operating, three have opened while under construction, two are still being built and another four are planned.
Laing said civil works had begun at their latest site—a $200-million retirement village at 62-94 Jacksons Road at Mulgrave, 25km south-west of Melbourne.
Those civil works, including a slip road, began this month. Full construction of the village—which will have 105 independent apartments, 70 independent villas, 54 serviced apartments, and a 60-bed care centre—is scheduled to begin by November.
Laing said the first residents were expected in the facility towards the end of 2024.
Ryman opened its first retirement village in Christchurch 37 years ago. With 38 villages across New Zealand, it is the country’s biggest retirement living and aged-care operator.
