Retirement village at Pakuranga Golf Course, NZ, will be fairway to heaven

POSTED ON October 27, 2018 @ 9:45 am

Residents of a “boundaryless” retirement village to be built on the edge of an Auckland golf course will be able to stroll directly onto the course for a quick round.

Metlifecare plans to build a retirement villages with 206 units on the edge of Pakuranga Golf Course at a cost of around $180 million with the project due to be completed in 2021.

The announcement of Metlifecare’s plans on the NZX sharemarket is a further indication of how retirement villages are evolving, with baby boomers preferring to feel connected to the communities around them, rather than living in compound-like gated communities.

Metlifecare chief executive Glen Sowry said: “The village integration with Pakuranga Golf Club will be boundaryless, with the village green flowing through to the golfing green.”

Metlifecare already had land fringing the golf course, having bought it from the Christian Elim Christian College, but had negotiated for over a year with the golf club to buy more.

The deal, which takes Metlifecare’s total landholding at the site to 3.44 hectares, involved Metlifecare undertaking to build a retirement village that did not detract from the picturesque golf club setting.

Sowry said the design would involve a “softer integration” with the golf club, rather than building multi-storey apartment blocks on the very edge of the course.

“Rather than it being a big chunky building up to the course boundary, it will be a much more layered design,” Sowry said.

He likened the plan to the houses around the Millbrook golf course in the Queenstown Lakes area.

“The total development area now stands at 3.44ha, paving the way for the development of New Zealand’s first ever retirement village with seamless access to an 18-hole golf course,” Sowry said.

Sowry said the announcement of the project had resulted in strong inquiry for units, including from keen golfers.

“Many of the Club’s members have registered strong interest in the village which is expected to be open from 2021,” he said.

The development will also have rest home units, so residents who need aged care at the end of their lives will not have to move out of the village to get it.

Rights to occupy the units will be sold for prices from $600,000 to more than $1m, but these are no property development.

Residents will not own the units, and when they vacate, and a new right to occupy is sold, they will get back their original capital minus a deferred management fee.

“The design of this village is going to be a reflection of its environment,” said Sowry.

“It will make the best possible use of the beautiful views over the greens and down the fairways. It will be a common sight to see golf carts parked outside village units as residents make the short trip from front door to the tee.”