Charity to sell retirement villages

By WAYNE THOMPSON

Presbyterian Support Northern is poised to sell seven of its retirement villages in the upper North Island in a multimillion-dollar deal that breaks with its traditional care for the aged.

The properties are the Lady Allum Village on the North Shore, Meadowbank Village (Auckland City), Totara Park Retirement Village (Warkworth), Elmwood Village (Manurewa), St John's Village (Papatoetoe), Trevellyn (Hamilton) and Melrose Park (Tauranga).

The villages combined have about 900 residents and 1000 staff and are assets of PSN's residential care arm, the Macpherson Group.

PSN is the country's biggest provider of social services outside the Government.

Its board yesterday could not give details of the deal until it had reached agreement on all sale conditions.

Chief executive Winsome Stretch said a "preferred purchaser" was lined up to take all seven villages, but she would not put a value to the deal.

Blenheim-based company Qualcare said it was the preferred purchaser but could not comment further until negotiations were over.

Ms Stretch said the sale bid was prompted by a change in philosophy to look after people in the community instead of doing it in resthomes.

"We believe the generation who are ageing now won't want to go in to resthomes and will want to retain independence in their communities. So the answer is to find ways of providing support for them."

She said PSN was already doing this with its "Community First" programme in Hamilton in partnership with the Government.

A similar programme would soon be introduced to the Bay of Plenty.

The board had consulted residents, families, donors and parishes about its plans.

Ms Stretch said the groups "largely agreed" with the board and a decision was made in May to put Macpherson Group up for sale.

Concerns voiced by residents would be met by covenants in the sale agreement.

One such covenant would protect chapels and chaplaincy services.

Others required the new owner to continue existing services to existing residents, and to take on all staff under the same conditions.

Privately owned Qualcare has built up a chain of retirement villages in the past 20 years.

The seven villages are different. Some, such as Totara Park at Warkworth and St Johns at Papatoetoe, have only cottages. Others have resthomes and hospitals and dementia units and day care centres.

People buy licences to occupy cottages or apartments at between $60,000 and $350,000.

On top of that they pay a weekly share of facilities costs.

If they need to stay in a care facility, they pay $78 to $140 a night.

Capital valuations on the villages range from $15.28 million, for the recently refurbished Lady Allum Village, to Meadowbank's $9.8 million, Melrose Park's $10.8 million, Trevellyn's $8.85 million, and St Johns and Totara Park at $1 million and $800,000 respectively.

Residents at Totara Park expressed disappointment at the sale.

Spokesman Wally Glen said people had come there feeling secure in the knowledge that it was run by a Christian charity.

Residents had backed a bid for the village by the Warkworth-based Rodney Health Trust, which the PSN board had rejected.

Mr Glen said the Presbyterian Church was copping a backlash over the morality of the sale.

Rotary, Lions and the community had given land, buildings and money for the village and these had been included in the price.

Ms Stretch said PSN had been willing to break off Totara Park from the six others to enable a bid from Rodney Health Trust.

"But the trust could not meet our conditions and we have moved on and are talking to another preferred purchaser."

A valued asset

Capital valuations on Presbyterian Support's retirement villages:

* Lady Allum (North Shore) $15.8 million.

* Meadowbank $9.8m.

* Melrose Park $10.8m.

* Trevellyn $8.85m.

* St Johns $1m.

* Totara Park $800,000.