Ryman acquisition paves the way for more Bellarine beds

Ryman Healthcare has paid $7.8 million to purchase an additional 2ha of land next to an existing retirement village on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula.

Ryman – a listed Kiwi retirement and aged care company that now has eight villages across Victoria – plans to use the additional land to build a further 58 self-contained villas.

This will increase the capacity of the Deborah Cheetham retirement community in Ocean Grove, about 100km from central Melbourne, to a total of 203 independent living villas, 53 serviced apartments and a 120-bed aged care facility.

Deborah Cheetham Village won Interior Design of the Year at the Asia-Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards in Singapore this month.

The land acquisition is the second expansion of the village after Ryman purchased an additional 2.35 hectare plot of land in 2021 – also adjacent – for the construction of a further 66 independent villas.

The original 3.7 hectare village opened its doors to residents in 2020.

▲ Ryman Healthcare paid $7.8 million for an additional 2 hectares of land.

Ryman Healthcare Australia chief executive Cameron Holland said the continued development of the village was driven by strong demand for high-quality retirement living and aged care opportunities on the Bellarine Peninsula.

“The shared facilities and aged care facility are some of the largest we have ever built, allowing us to grow the village community over time and provide more residents with the opportunity to move in,” he said.

The village has a full suite of community facilities including a bar, café, indoor swimming pool, gymnasium, cinema, billiards room, library and workshop.

Founded in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1984, Ryman opened its first Australian village at Wheelers Hill in Melbourne in 2014. In addition to the eight operational sites, it has a further six in the works – all in Victoria.

Ryman’s arrival heralded an invasion of New Zealand when, five years later, the country’s second largest aged care and retirement operator, Summerset Group, made the same trip to Australia.