Melbourne based Australian Unity Group will shortly commence development on a $20.5 million Private Hospital facility on a recently acquired site opposite Robina Hospital on Bayberry Lane, Robina.

Development will occur over three stages, with the first being the construction of a new 90 bed sub-acute hospital, along with ancillary areas, consulting suites, consultancy suites and associated parking at basement levels. Future stages will include development of a full surgical hospital.

Practical completion of stage 1 is expected to be in 2016 and, once completed, the building will be leased to Healthe Care Australia Pty Ltd for 25 years. The initial passing yield for stage 1 is 7.5 percent.

Mr Chris Smith, head of healthcare and retirement funds at Australian Unity Real Estate Investment (AUREI), said that this is a prudent investment for HPT not only from an initial income yield point of view but also in terms of plans for future expansion.

“This acquisition is in line with a number of other large-scale brownfield developments that HPT has previously undertaken, with experience showing that these types of developments add value to the existing property portfolio and for investors.

“This development represents a rare opportunity for the private sector to co-locate, leverage off, and complement the growing Queensland Health presence in Robina Medical Precinct.”

Robina Group director Tony Tippett welcomed HPT & Healthe Care Australia Pty Ltd to CBDRobina and said HPT’s planned hospital development was yet another step in Robina’s continued evolution as a hub for the medical and health care sector.

He said the new proposed hospital would join the 364-bed Gold Coast Hospital with its full A&E department, ICU and surgical wards, the one-hectare Queensland Health Medical Precinct, the Bond Institute of Health and Sport Campus and numerous other community health services within CBDRobina.

“CBDRobina is now firmly established as one of South East Queensland’s major centres for new health, research and educational development,” Mr Tippett said.

“Robina offers a geographically central location and strong connections to existing transport corridors including the Brisbane-Gold Coast heavy rail line, Pacific Motorway and future light rail link – it’s the largest centre on the M1 corridor and serves a population catchment stretching far beyond the city’s boundaries.
“This acts as a magnet to major employers and businesses that would not otherwise consider a Gold Coast base and will ensure Robina’s continued growth as a hub for not only health and medical but also education, high technology, information technology and new industries for the city.”

He said Robina also benefited from the Robina Central Planning Agreement, which was enacted under an Act of Parliament, and granted Robina significant planning rights, including substantial infrastructure charges benefits and speedy approval time frames.

The Australian Unity Healthcare Property Trust (HPT) is an unlisted property trust that invests in healthcare-related property assets with a primary focus on delivering regular income for investors plus the opportunity for long-term capital growth.

HPT acquired the Robina development site for $7.9 million, bringing their acquisitions in the past 10 months to 5 at a total cost of $53.25 million. Each purchase has been funded from the HPT’s existing capital reserves.

The other acquisitions include: a healthcare property in Kent Town, South Australia, in November 2014 for $11.1 million; a building in Townsville, Queensland, in October 2014 in partnership with Healthe Care, for conversion into a mental health hospital; Brisbane Waters Private Hospital on NSW’s Central Coast in July 2014 for $16.18 million; and a majority share of a medical centre in North Gosford, NSW, in March 2015 for $13.07 million.

The new Robina hospital will occupy a 6,662sqm site approved as ‘medical’ under the Robina Central Planning Agreement and sits within the Robina Medical Precinct and is adjacent to the Robina Public Hospital.

Footnotes:

Australian Unity Real Estate Investment is the property funds management business of Australian Unity Investments, part of the Australian Unity group, a national healthcare, financial services and retirement living organisation that has been operating for more than 170 years.

AUREI was established in 1998 and, through its unlisted property funds, owns and manages more than 50 properties in the healthcare, retail and commercial sectors across Australia. It has more than $1.8 billion in funds under management (as at 31 December 2014).

Its flagship fund, the HPT, owns 29 hospitals, medical centres, and aged care facilities across Australia, and has more than $700 million in funds under management as at 30 April 2015.