The private operator, owned by the Knowles family, continues to be one of the most prolific builders in the residential aged care sector.
Its latest 110-suite aged care home has opened at Ringwood, 25km east of the Melbourne CBD, earlier this month with 18 residents moving in during the first week.
DCM Group Editor Lauren Broomham was given a tour of the facilities, which include a café, hair salon, private dining room (pictured), gymnasium, movie theatre and outdoor decks and courtyards.
The facility currently offers three suite types, all with a Smart TV with Foxtel, fridge and private ensuite and Refundable Accommodation Deposits (RADs) ranging from $650,000 to $750,000. Two larger suite types, the Premiere and Premiere Plus, are waiting for approval to charge a RAD of $1.5 million.
Arcare, which is Australia’s largest family-run residential aged care operator, now has 55 aged care homes across Victoria, Queensland, NSW and the ACT, with five more homes due to come online this year: 
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Arcare Lysterfield: an 84-bed home 43km southeast of Melbourne due for completion in May 2025.
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Arcare Aranda: a 120-bed facility northwest of the Canberra CBD expected to be ready in June 2025 and Arcare’s first ACT site.
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Arcare Croydon: a 91-bed facility 30km east of the Melbourne CBD (close to the Ringwood facility) currently under construction and set to open in 2025.
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Arcare Werribee: 32km southwest of the Melbourne CBD, which began construction in late 2024 and will open in late 2025.
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Arcare Wright, a 98-bed aged care home 13km southwest of the Canberra CBD – and the group’s second in the ACT – which started construction in late 2024 and is also due open in late 2025.
The operator also has several facilities under development including:
- Arcare Clyde: a 110-bed home 48km south east of the Melbourne CBD set to open in mid-2026.
- Arcare Gold Creek: the group’s third ACT aged care home which will begin construction in mid-2025 and is set to open in late 2026.
- Arcare Huntlee: a 96-bed home located in the NSW Hunter Valley adjacent and connected to the Knowles Group’s village brand Sencia’s Green Ridge retirement village currently under construction. This home will begin construction in mid-2026 and is set to open in late 2027.
The operator has also acquired several facilities and sites in recent years, including Not For Profit Mercy Health’s former Maryville Hostel in Boronia, 30km east of the Melbourne CBD, in mid-2024.
The Knowles Group exited the home care sector earlier this year with the sale of its BodeWell Community Care business, launched in 2007, to Regis Aged Care.
The family’s village brand Sencia has three villages in NSW.
