A planned $155m retirement village with dementia care, a cinema, indoor pool and bowling green has made way for more than 200 townhouses in Melbourne’s west.
Plans for a $155m retirement village with specialist dementia care, a cinema, indoor pool and bowling green have been ditched in Melbourne’s west.
Instead, the region will get a more than 200 townhouse boost after ASX-listed developer Cedar Woods Properties emerged as the buyer behind a $30.85m purchase of Ryman Healthcare’s former Kealba site.
The 27 Driscolls Rd property was formerly part of the Kealba Secondary College site and had been earmarked by Ryman for the integrated retirement village with independent living villas, a full aged-care centre, specialist dementia care, a cafe, bar, gym, cinema, indoor pool, hair and beauty salons and a bowling green.
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The village was also expected to create more than 150 long-term jobs, along with work for hundreds of tradies and contractors during construction.
But the general residential-zoned land is now expected to become a master-planned townhouse estate exceeding 200 dwellings, in one of Melbourne’s biggest middle-ring residential land deals this year.
Title documents and Australian Securities and Investments Commission records show Cedar Woods Properties is behind the purchase, with its subsidiary Wollemi Property Pty Ltd lodging a caveat over the site on June 3.
Cushman & Wakefield director of development sites Joe Kairouz said the Kealba deal was a major vote of confidence in Melbourne’s next housing cycle.
The 27 Driscolls Rd site was formerly part of the Kealba Secondary College site before being earmarked for a retirement village and now a townhouse estate.
Wollemi Property claimed an interest in the land under a purchasers’ contract dated April 13, while ASIC records list Cedar Woods Properties as Wollemi’s ultimate holding company.
Cushman & Wakefield director of development sites Joe Kairouz, who brokered the deal with Hamish Burgess, said the homes would have a significant effect on housing supply in the area.
“It is going to have a huge impact on the affordability and the supply equation in the area,” Mr Kairouz said.
“I think, more importantly, and more broadly, it is just a good vote of confidence in the market.
“Now there is the opportunity for developers to be looking for sites of scale, to provide more dwellings for the next cycle.”
A separate Ryman aged-care site plan in Coburg North. The group had been planning a $155m retirement and aged-care village at its Kealba site. Picture: Ryman Health.
Mr Kairouz said a number of residential developers pursued the Kealba property.
“There were a number of residential developers circling the opportunity, given the scale of the site and its position in such a suitable infill location,” he said.
The transaction comes despite broader concern about Victoria’s development sector, with builders and developers facing higher construction costs, planning delays and tax pressures.
But Mr Kairouz said major groups were again looking at Melbourne as a relative value play compared with other Australian capitals.
“If you look at it from a national perspective, Melbourne is now seen, from a development perspective, as an affordable market to be buying sites,” he said.
“And yes, there are challenges, but the fundamentals are still quite strong in Victoria.
“Despite all the headwinds and despite all the challenges in the market, I think what this transaction does is solidify that it is a good time to be buying.
“It is a good time to be getting the pipeline up, and it is a good indication for the market.”
The 27 Driscolls Rd, Kealba, site has been linked to Cedar Woods Properties through title and ASIC records after a $30.85m deal. Picture: Nearmap.
The Kealba land is expected to become a masterplanned townhouse community with more than 200 dwellings.
The Kealba site spans 6.07ha and sits about 15km from the CBD, close to Keilor Central shopping centre, major roads, established residential neighbourhoods and Melbourne Airport.
The $30.85m deal equates to about $508 a square metre.
Mr Kairouz said the 27 Driscolls Rd transaction would be one of the largest and most prominent suburban residential infill deals completed in Melbourne this year.
“It will be one of the largest, especially in the suburban market,” he said.
“It is definitely a constrained market. There have been a lot fewer transactions relative to historical years.
“So it is definitely one of the largest and most prominent.”
Cushman & Wakefield director of development sites Hamish Burgess said well-capitalised developers were looking beyond short-term uncertainty to secure future housing sites.
Cushman & Wakefield director of development sites Hamish Burgess said the sale highlighted a shift in sentiment among well-capitalised developers.
“We’re seeing well-capitalised groups moving decisively to secure future pipeline opportunities, particularly across Melbourne’s middle-ring growth corridors where housing demand fundamentals remain extremely strong,” Mr Burgess said.
“There is a growing sense that the market is approaching an inflection point, with sophisticated developers looking beyond short-term noise and positioning themselves ahead of the next residential upswing.”
A construction start date for the townhouse project has not been confirmed.
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