Ryman Healthcare has sold its Moondah Estate site to the Jacobsen family, owners of Village Glen in Rosebud, and holders of a number of properties neighbouring the historic site.
The sale comes after Ryman Healthcare has decided not to proceed with its contentious retirement of the historic site and reportedly offloaded it at a loss.
A statement from Ryman, provided to The News, said “Through a comprehensive review of Ryman’s land bank holdings in New Zealand and Australia, the Mount Eliza site has been confirmed for divestment and we now have an unconditional agreement to sell the site to another party later this year.
“The review is intended to identify those sites that are most prospective for future development and those that no longer meet our criteria for future development, and where greater value can be delivered for shareholders through sale.”
Ryman Healthcare, which owns and operates 49 retirement villages in Australia and New Zealand, first purchased the 8.9ha site from Melbourne University for a reported $37.5m in September 2016.
Their plans soon hit resistance in the form of community opposition, and questions on whether the site, which is outside the urban growth boundary, was subject to green wedge development restrictions, or whether a “special use” provision would allow development (Ryman confident of retaining zone for ‘village’ plan, The News 18/12/18).
The project also faced significant opposition from Mornington Peninsula Shire, which knocked the plans back. A revised proposal with a smaller footprint was submitted, again to be knocked back, prompting Ryman to take the matter to VCAT where approval was granted in late 2022.
At a special meeting in January 2023, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council noted its disappointment at the VCAT decision but after seeking advice, elected not to appeal it.
The final proposal would have included 104 independent units, 27 assisted living suites and a 60-bed aged care centre.
Last month, Ryman Healthcare announced financial results that included its first “positive free cash flow result” in over a decade, but a net loss after tax of NZ$45.2m (AUD$39.5m). The announcement comes at a time of change for the New Zealand-based organisation with a full bank debt refinancing by way of a NZ$2b (AUD$1.75b) syndicated loan facility.
In a media release dated 27 November Ryman’s CEO Naomi James said, “We’re pleased to have already secured two sales from the [land bank] review, with Park Terrace contracted for $42 million and Mount Eliza for $35 million in recent weeks.”
Moondah, built in 1888 for James Grice, was an opulent 42 room Victorian mansion.
Sir Reginald Ansett purchased Moondah in 1947 and restored the building into a 5 star luxury hotel. This he called Manyung Hotel. It was the most luxurious hotel on the Mornington Peninsula.
Ansett sold Manyung Hotel to the Australian Administrative Staff College in 1957, and it was run as an education facility until sold to Ryman Healthcare in 2016.
The News contacted the Jacobsen family for comment and received the following statement:
“The family are pleased to have secured this unique property and look forward to enjoying it into the future.”
Chas Jacobsen first purchased in the area with the acquisition of the 11.7-hectare Gunyong Valley estate for $14.5m from the estate of the late Lady Joan Ansett in 2006.
In 2018, Jacobsen added to the landholding with the acquisition of the last parcel of the former Ansett estate in Mt Eliza for an “undisclosed sum”, believed to be around $33 million.
It is believed the sale of the Moondah Estate is expected to settle in the second half of 2026.
