Ryman announces new village for north Melbourne

Ryman Healthcare has bought land in Coburg North earmarked for a $350 million retirement village and aged care centre.

Ryman Healthcare has bought land in Coburg North earmarked for a $350 million retirement village and aged care home.

The New Zealand-listed company plans to transform the 2.6-hectare site into an integrated retirement village combining independent living apartments with an aged care centre that will provide specialist dementia care.

The Gaffney Street development will be less than 10 kilometres from Melbourne’s central business district. Ryman Australia CEO Cameron Holland said the location would offer residents a bustling city lifestyle surrounded by restaurants, cafes with public transport options right on their doorstep.

Cameron Holland

“What we know at Ryman is that retiring doesn’t mean slowing down,” Mr Holland said. “With more free time on their hands, older Australians want to get busy living life to the full. This village will provide a unique opportunity to do just that.”

With aged care available on site, residents will also have the peace of mind that comes from knowing they’ll be looked after if their health needs change, said Mr Holland.

The Ryman development will create more than 130 long-term jobs for the area as well as work for hundreds of tradies and contractors during its construction phase.

It will include the provision of new commercial space nearby, adding the potential for retail, hospitality and health service operators within the retirement village precinct.   

Founded in Christchurch in 1984, Ryman opened its first Australian village, Weary Dunlop, in Wheelers Hill, south-east Melbourne, in 2014. Since then, Ryman has opened seven other retirement villages and invested more than $1.2 billion in Victoria. Altogether, its Australian villages are home to 900 residents.

“Since opening our first village in Melbourne in 2014 we’ve seen an extremely strong appetite for high quality retirement living communities that also offer aged care on site,” Mr Holland said.

Ryman has seven other sites at various stages of the planning, design and construction process in Essendon, Ringwood East, Mt Martha, Mt Eliza, Highett, Mulgrave and Kealba.

Main image: Ryman’s Coburg North site at 14-22 Gaffney Street

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