Ingenia continues village buy up
Ingenia Communities group has purchased two rental retirement villages in New South Wales and Victoria for a total of $6.7 million to make it 29 communities in its rental portfolio.
Above: Ingenia Communities Group CEO Simon Owen says the latest acquisitions expand their rental portfolio in line with the group’s current strategy
Seniors housing communities’ operator and developer Ingenia Communities group is continuing its buy up of non-listed properties with the addition of 100 retirement village rental units to its portfolio following the acquisition of two properties in New South Wales and Victoria for a total of $6.7 million.
The first purchase is 49-unit rental village SunnyCove Wagga Wagga in NSW for $3.7 million. The village has a 96 per cent occupancy rate.
Ingenia Communities Group Chief Executive Officer Simon Owen said: “This acquisition expands our rental portfolio, consistent with our strategy to enhance our exposure to stable cash flows and Australian assets.”
The second acquisition, which has a current occupancy of 84 per cent, is 50-unit SunnyCove Ballarat in Victoria for $3.04 million. The property is near Ingenia’s existing rental village Hertford Gardens.
“This acquisition provides us with a significant opportunity to improve returns and to further leverage our local knowledge and management experience,” Mr Owen said.
“On completion of this acquisition and our recently announced acquisition in Wagga Wagga, Ingenia’s Garden Village rental portfolio will comprise 29 communities representing 1,517 cash yielding units.”
Both purchases are cash yielding, bolt-on acquisitions purchased off market and below replacement cost in an existing market cluster, he said.
While Ingenia already has a property in Ballarat, it’s its first acquisition in Wagga Wagga.
However, the village is within driving distance to several properties in the region and close enough to Ingenia’s villages in Albury and Goulburn to deliver inter-village efficiencies and a better experience for residents, Ingenia reports.
These acquisitions follow other recent purchases for the Ingenia Communities Group including a retirement village in Mandurah WA for $2.8 million and another in Dubbo NSW.
The group indicates it has no plans to discontinue to its shopping spree.
“Ingenia is currently assessing further acquisition opportunities in line with our strategy to increase cash rental income and expand our ‘build-ready’ development pipeline,” Mr Owen said.
The Wagga Wagga and Ballarat acquisitions are expected to settle in June 2013 and funded with existing cash reserves.
Read AAA’s coverage of Ingenia’s previous acquisition here: New village for Ingenia Communities Group (scroll down the page as this story begins half way down)
