$100m village construction begins

Construction is under way on the $100 million Bob Owens Retirement Village in Tauranga, with 36 independent townhouses and apartments already signed up.
The developer and operator, listed company Ryman Healthcare, expects the first residents to move in by March next year when the modern village centre will be completed.
The village, on an elevated 7ha site in Carmichael Rd, Bethlehem, has attracted strong interest - particularly from elderly Ryman shareholders - since the plans were announced last year.
More than 100 people are on the waiting list, and the first stage of 50 townhouses and independent apartments has almost been taken up, including all of the townhouses priced in the mid-$300,000 to early $400,000 range.
Altogether 197 independent units are planned over the next four years. The village includes 79 serviced apartments for assisted living and 120 beds for hospital and dementia care.
"It's been the talk of the town," said Ryman marketing manager, Neil Prior. "Tauranga still needs additional retirement living and care, and Ryman is making a significant investment in the city.
"We are building a fully integrated village, from independent living to specialist dementia care, and the residents don't have to move from the village to receive high levels of support. "We had very strong interest in Tauranga even before we found the right piece of land."
Contractors are presently completing the earthworks and driving 220 screw piles into the ground to prepare the foundations for the $20 million village centre, which includes a lounge, dining room, bar, library, gym, hair and beauty salon, indoor heated swimming pool and spa, and a grand internal atrium.
"Unlike others, we build the community centre first so the early residents can enjoy the facilities as soon as they move in," Mr Prior said.
At the peak of the building, up to 200 builders and sub-contractors will be on the site, which looks out to the harbour and across to Otumoetai. The Bob Owens village will house more than 450 people and employ up to 200 fulltime and part-time staff.
Ryman development manager Andrew Mitchell expects the first stage, including the community centre, will be completed by the end of the first quarter next year. "We will just continue building over the following three years."
He said the first sales of townhouses and apartments was a great start reflecting high quality at affordable prices.
The Tauranga retirement village is Ryman's 24th in the country. Two more are under way in Gisborne and Christchurch, the company's home base.
Statistics NZ estimates the number of Kiwis aged 75 plus will increase from 250,000 to 516,000 over the next 20 years.
In May, Ryman reported a 17 per cent increase in profit to $72 million for its latest financial year. Its directors increased the annual dividend by 18 per cent to 7.2 cents a share, with the remaining 50 per cent of profit being retained for investment in new villages around New Zealand and in Australia.
Operating cashflows were $133 million, and the village assets were valued at $566 million, up 24 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Bethlehem Country Club across the road from the Bob Owens village is filling up, with building starting on four more homes.
Developer Fraser Sanderson said 20 sections remained and he expected them to be taken up over the next 12 months.
"I guess the Ryman development has helped give us more exposure; the same happened when we built Bayswater Retirement Village and Ocean Shores came next door to us," he said.
Bethlehem Country Club, which started six years ago, was a boutique lifestyle community attracting younger retirees, aged 55 and over. "They want companionship and a little bit of security," Mr Sanderson said.
The country club will soon have 80 homes 240sq m in size and sitting on 400sq m sections, and Mr Sanderson has yet to decide what to do on the final stage of more than one hectare.