It was in March 2012 when Jim became Chairman of Ingenia Communities, the ASX-listed operator, owner and developer of seniors’ communities offering rental, land lease and holiday accommodation.
It was valued at $20 million when he became Chair. Ingenia is now worth $2.01 billion and it has a pipeline to make it the second largest seniors’ land lease lifestyle operator in Australia.
Jim’s first exposure to the village sector was his role as Chief General Manager of Adelaide Bank, rescuing a number of retirement villages caught in the 1990’s credit squeeze. He then supported Loretta Byers establish Village Care, which became the first professional village management group with up to 50 private villages in their fold.
In the 90s he also backed many families into the sector like the Gannon family, which became the base group of villages in the creation of RetireAustralia. In the 2000s Jim was approached to lead the rescue of Prime Life, the largest private retirement village group nationally. As CEO he turned it around. It is now the base for what was Lendlease villages and now Keyton villages.
In June, Jim was inducted onto the Property Council of Australia’s Property Hall of Fame and he was made a Honorary Life Member of the Property Council's Retirement Living Council.
He will step down as Chair of Ingenia Communities at its AGM on 14 November but he is not retiring. He is a Board member of COTA Australia and a member of the Audit and Risk Committe, Office of the Inspector General of Aged Care
He remains Chair of the Board of Omega Communities, which operates retirement villages The Glenbrook and Leabrook Place in Adelaide, and he is a Board director on ICAM ’s Diversified Seniors Living Fund, a social infrastructure asset class supporting older Australians and housing around Australia. It owns three retirement villages.
Jim is also Chair of Barossa Hills Fleurieu Local Health Network and Chairman of property investment and management business Precision Group. He was appointed Deputy Chancellor of Adelaide University in May.
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