Health, wealth and care group Australian Unity has strengthened its push into Queensland with the purchase of Greengate Partnership.
Greengate owns and manages three recently-built and fully operational, vertical retirement village and residential aged care precincts—two in Sydney (St Brigid’s Green, Maroubra and St Patrick’s Green, Kogarah) and one in Brisbane (St Luke’s Green, Woolloongabba), Australian Unity told the ASX.
“The Directors of Greengate sought the expertise of Commercial Collective’s Health, Aged Care & Retirement in November 2020 to exclusively run a discreet off market campaign, to find the best custodian of their assets as well as that of their staff and residents,” said Shane Nicholson, Director of Commercial Collective’s Health, Aged Care & Retirement, when asked about Australian Unity’s purchase.
The Greengate portfolio also includes a prime development site in the Brisbane suburb, Auchenflower, that has approval for a vertical retirement village and residential aged care precinct.
The three operational sites will add 253 independent living units (ILUs) and 225 residential aged care (RAC) beds to the Australian Unity portfolio, while the development site is expected to deliver about 88 ILUs and 110 RAC beds.
Australian Unity currently owns and operates 21 retirement villages and seven residential aged care homes across NSW and Victoria, comprising 2,496 ILUs and 786 RAC beds.
“On top of increasing demand for quality care from an ageing population, the recent Aged Care Royal Commission will result in greater support for more ageing-in place options. This presents opportunities for providers such as Australian Unity, which can demonstrate strength across the continuum of care, in both in-home and residential settings,” said Australian Unity’s Executive General Manager Residential Communities, Beverly Smith.
Ms Smith said that the proposed purchase will also accelerate Australian Unity’s plans to grow its presence in Queensland. Australian Unity is the main developer of one of Australia’s largest social infrastructure programs—the Herston Quarter healthcare precinct in Brisbane.
