Retirement latest development for Cross

By Bob Dey

Peter Cross was never one to shy away from battle as the promoter of the Britomart scheme to revitalise downtown Auckland or, previously, as head of MacDow Properties during its development of the Coopers & Lybrand Tower on Albert St and the bitter litigation that ensued.

But since late last year he has been leading a comparatively quiet life, running retirement villages.

"I'm having a lot of fun," he says.

When Cross left the Pacific Capital Assets organisation and its Britomart development subsidiaries last year, that project was ready to roll as soon as resource consents could be obtained. The Environment Court took matters a step closer to action this month, although the project could still face appeals and negotiated change brought by the Auckland City Council's new faces.

Cross' first role away from Britomart was to help retirement-village developer and operator Primecare, headed by Bev Collins, whose husband Graham had died suddenly.

This year Cross became chief executive and he is relishing the opportunity to take the group forward.

"We regard ourselves as having the premium villages - each unit is much bigger.

All two-bedrooms are 120 to 125 sq m and the one-bedroom in the Oxford, in the latest village, is 90 sq m. We specialise in two-bedroom villas with en suites, big dining and lounge areas and internal entry from the garage."

Primecare also opts for brick and tile exteriors. "We don't go for anything which is plaster. Brick and tile means low maintenance, quality and soundproofing. There's quite a bit of space - lawns and gardens - around them, too."

Cross says the common facilities also impress for their size, including covered pools, but the success of the latest offering surprised him. It is the computer room.

In Primecare's Ocean Shores village at Mt Maunganui, Cross says the 20 PCs available to residents are always in use.

"Popular attitudes change, and as education changes you have to provide facilities to meet the new demands.

"Twenty years ago you wouldn't have thought of it. We're looking at putting computer rooms into the new villages and adjusting space in the existing villages to make them available.

"I find this stimulating, because the people we've got in the villages are active. A lot of people think retirement-village residents are just old, but these people have sharp minds, they're very interesting to talk to. In liaison with the residents' committees, it's amazing the contributions they can make to the improvement of the services we give."

Primecare has three villages operating and two big ones being developed.
On Auckland's North Shore, the Mayfair, on the East Coast Bays end of Oteha Valley Rd, has 140 villas and 80 apartments, and the Parklane at Sunnynook has 129 villas plus 80 apartments. Ocean Shores has 135 villas and 88 apartments, plus some 300 sq m two-storey houses.

At Acacia Cove in Wattle Downs, in south Auckland, the first 15 houses of a planned 179 have been completed and the first eight residents have taken up occupancy. It will also have 50 apartments. The latest village, Knightsbridge in Mairangi Bay, has just gained resource consent, site works are under way and Cross expects construction should start within six months. It will have 156 villas and 90 apartments.

One development there is that 50 per cent of the apartments will be fully serviced, offering services such as laundry and all meals, "virtually like a hotel."

Cross says the organisation has reached a size which makes it sensible to introduce group functions, such as buying advantages which can be passed on to residents, accounting support and common standards. The reduction in autonomy means Primecare must work at establishing better relationships between the villages and managers, and it is rebranding the previously stand-alone operations as Primecare Villages.

Bev Collins, a nurse specialising in aged care, and husband Graham, who had done some residential development, were involved in the establishment of the Pakuranga Park village in the 80s and opened their first two villages 10 years ago. Cross was also involved briefly in retirement-village work at the same time through Chase Corporation and the Private Lifecare villages, "so it's an industry I understand and did a lot of research on."

Cross says the group is financially well structured. Each village is a development of about $50 million, each with a different shareholding structure but with the Collins family interests in control. His immediate job is to rationalise and consolidate the management structures, complete the two new villages and source further opportunities.

Is the move to retirement villages that big? Cross says an indication of how much support the concept has is the waiting list of 600 on the North Shore. And he says settling in a village is not necessarily the end of the road.

"We've got people who moved into Mayfair, and when Ocean Shores was started they moved down there. They like being part of our villages and part of what Primecare provides."

Although the group is on an expansion path, Cross says its owners have no intention to list Primecare. "We've got no financial difficulties. By listing you lose control and the cost of compliance is horrendous. The villages are really resident-funded, so it's a matter of running a business rather than being an investment in property."

Cross found there was another perspective to this when he went down to the Mt Maunganui village just before Christmas. "They saw this new guy and thought, `Are we being corporatised?' If we were listed I'd have to wear my suit and tie, but we want to be relaxed about what we do. It's a much friendlier environment for us and the residents and I think that's important."