The Chief Executive for Lendlease Asia has been appointed to lead Australia’s largest village operator after Steve McCann (pictured above right) steps down on 31 May after 12 years at the helm.

A former accountant, Mr Lombardo (pictured above left) spent almost 10 years at GE Capital before joining Lendlease in 2007 and going on to spearhead its Asia growth strategy from Singapore.

Those who have been in the sector for some time will also recall Mr Lombardo was one of the architects behind Lendlease’s takeover of Babcock & Brown Communities’ 56 villages and 29 aged care homes in 2008 for just $195 million.

The aged care homes were later acquired in 2013 for $270 million by private equity firm Archer Capital and re-branded as Allity – meaning Lendlease essentially acquired the villages for free.

“Tony will commence in his new role as the Group pursues its revised strategy focusing on leveraging its competitive edge in the development and delivery of large-scale, mixed-use urbanisation projects and growing the Investments platform,” Lendlease Chairman Michael Ullmer said.

Mr Lombardo will also be responsible for selling off another 50% stake in Lendlease’s retirement living portfolio which the company flagged in September last year.

Lendlease already offloaded 25% of its retirement village business for around $450 million to the Dutch pension fund APG in 2017.

Mr Lombardo will be paid an annual fixed salary of $1.8 million plus short- and long-term incentive arrangements which could be worth a potential $5.7 million in FY22 subject to performance.

Lendlease will also pay for the CEO’s relocation from Singapore to Australia, including providing a housing allowance for up to six months for appropriate accommodation.