Aspen acquires regional retirement village
Aspen is paying Gannon Lifestyle Communities $6.01 million for the part-developed Wodonga Gardens Retirement Estate.
The 8.8 hectare property, 2 Flinders Way, West Wodonga, contains 51 dwellings with a re-leasing value of $15.3m ($300,000 per home).
It also includes a community building and caravan storage area.
Another 121 residences are permitted.
The undeveloped portion is valued at c$4.5m.
Last week we reported Aspen spent $52m for 17 Perth residential investments.
Also this month, the group outlaid $18.5m on a Brisbane student accommodation complex with plans to repurpose it as a traditional co-living investment.
In May the landlord acquired the Lewis Fields Retirement Village (also known as Townsend of Strathalbyn) on Adelaide’s outskirts.
Following settlement of 2 Flinders Way, Aspen controls 490 leased dwellings and 460 sites across seven retirement living communities in four states (story continues below).
LLC conversion planned
Gannon purchased the Wodonga Gardens site in 2010 from Lendlease, which acquired it from Babcock & Brown Communities, which had take over Ted Sent’s Primelife.
“We propose to develop future stages under a land lease community model as we believe it is a more attractive ownership structure for our customers,” an Aspen statement said of its newest asset.
“We also intend to reduce exit fees for existing residents,” it added.
“Wodonga Gardens is a quality retirement village and one of the largest in the region under development offering new houses,” according to the landlord.
“The Albury-Wodonga region has a population of over 100,000 and is growing, driven by its major regional status and facilities, job prospects, lifestyle choices and a lower cost of living compared to the major cities”.
Last month, Stockland paid $620m for the Halcyon portfolio – which includes 13 Queensland over-50s land lease villages.
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