Rest-home operator to bail out

Falling resident numbers, rising costs and an oversupply of Auckland rest-home beds have forced the Freemasons to put their Mt Roskill retirement village and hospital complex up for sale.

The move has brought pleas for more Government funding for aged care. Seventeen rest-homes and hospital businesses have been put up for sale nationwide since November.

The 5.2ha Roskill Masonic Village will go up for tender in April and its owners hope a buyer will be found by mid-June.

The Private Hospitals Association president, Max Robins, said the Government's "chronic" underfunding of the sector had resulted in many operators selling up, including the Salvation Army and Methodist Mission Northern.

"People spend years building up something like this and to see them in this position is extremely sad," he said of the Freemasons' sale.

Roskill village chief executive Paul Heeney said he hoped a new owner would keep the business going so that residents could remain.

But some bidders might view the large block of prime real estate as a development site, he said.

However, residents of the retirement village towards the Pah Rd side had long-term licences to occupy, so this part of the site could not be redeveloped.

The Northern Masonic Association Trust Board, which owns and runs the complex via subsidiary Roskill Residential Homes, made the decision to sell with much regret, said Mr Heeney.

The Freemasons developed the village in 1957, but the complex had made a financial loss for many years.

Late last year, the board had plans drafted to build a much larger retirement village, supported by a new hospital and rest-home.

But Mr Heeney said this was not feasible.

"We would have had to spend about $100 million, had a high level of debt and it's a competitive market out there."

He estimated that Auckland had an oversupply of at least 500 rest-home beds.

Real estate agent Peter Heywood, of Barfoot & Thompson's Mt Roskill office, said a 5ha property could take more than 100 houses and sell for at least $20 million.

For sale

* Seventeen private aged-care, retirement and rest-home complexes worth about $100 million have been put up for sale in the last three months.

* The Salvation Army is selling 13 properties nationwide, Methodist Mission Northern is selling three businesses but keeping its properties, and the Freemasons said yesterday they would sell one property and business in Auckland. The future of ElderCare NZ's 13 aged-care properties also hangs in the balance as its listed owner reviews its options.

* Properties could be bought by developers keen to maximise returns from the real estate.

* Roskill Masonic Village was developed by the Freemasons in 1957. The property is home for 180 people, with another 60 living in a retirement village there.