Aged Care Provider Secures Warringah Golf Club

Strong growth in Australia’s aged care sector has underpinned the sale of a prominent North Manly landholding – the Warringah Golf Club’s clubhouse facilities.

An aged care provider secured the 4,071sqm property at 397 Condamine Street, which is located in one of Sydney’s most sought after residential locations.

CBRE’s Aaron Arias and Richard Gell - in conjunction with Matthew Sartori from the firm’s health, aged care and retirement living team - handled the competitive four week marketing campaign, with the property attracting significant buyer interest from domestic and offshore groups.

The sale follows the proposed relocation of Warringah Golf Club’s clubhouse facilities to a new site on the golf course, or in improved proximity to it.

“This conditional sale places the vendor in a favourable position in its bid to be the successful tenderer in Northern Beaches Council’s ‘District Park Plan of Management’, which includes the development of a combined sports club, lease of the golf course and other associated sports facilities,” Mr Gell explained.

The property’s development potential in one of Sydney’s most revered suburbs was a major draw card attracting buyers, Mr Arias explained.

He commented: “The strong result reflects the current strength in demand for residential development and aged sites in the sub $20 million price range. Furthermore, the Northern Beaches’ close proximity to amenity including shops, health care services, reputable schools and frequent public transport links into the Sydney CBD, were also key selling factors.

CBRE’s health, aged care and retirement living specialist Matthew Sartori said while many providers look to acquire regional bed licenses to operate facilities prior to acquiring greenfield sites, some operators were looking to purchase greenfield sites earlier to guarantee location of choice.

“Typically, aged care has not been able to compete with the residential development market on prime sites, but with a bit of a shift within the market, and with perceived over-supply of residential in certain areas, with the right site criteria, this is changing – as demonstrated by this sale,” Mr Sartori said.

Further evidencing the growing momentum in the aged care market, a private operator has recently secured a residential site within the mid-north coast region, proximate to health facilitiesAlso in Sydney’s northern suburbs, CBRE recently sold a Frenchs Forest site, within the proposed Health Employment Precinct, with healthcare development being the most likely future use.

“Health Employment Precincts are increasingly becoming a major focus for councils, developers and operators, yet a majority of stakeholders are unsure of how these precincts will be specifically shaped and what user groups might best fit within,” Mr Sartori said.

“Aged care/seniors living, day surgeries, as well as a number of ancillary health user groups, make good fits for these precincts, as well as providing local employment opportunities.”

He added: “The elderly and healthcare will play a significant part of our economy and country for years to come, as well as countries around the world, in an unprecedented way.”

The successful purchaser, which has been recognised as the Best Active Ageing Programmes and Facility in Australia, Asia and globally, said they were excited to be creating leading services for the Manly community.