Becton and Sultanate of Oman syndicate abandon Malvern East retirement village plans
Becton has sold its development site at Malvern East. The site – which was held in the group’s Retirement Alliance with the Oman Investment Fund – was offloaded to the Melbourne-based developers, Knowles Group at book value.
The site had been slated for development as a proposed further Retirement Alliance retirement village, however given Becton's challenging funding environment, the board resolved that it was better to sell the non-revenue generating asset. Oman Investment Fund is a sovereign wealth fund of the Sultanate of Oman.
It was the former Reg Hunt Holden car dealership premises on Dandenong Road.
On its 2008 purchase it was anticipated to become a $59-million seven storey parkside 75 apartment retirement living project.
It was the site of Cooper's Timber Yard between 1926 and 1979, before Hunt bought the site. Hunt sold the site in 2002.
The Becton sale will reduce the Retirement Alliance’s debt with the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank – which is anticipated to be fully repaid by the end of 2012. It was drawn at $2.6 million.
The developer and fund manager had been expanding into the aged-care sector since the late 1990s until the global financial crisis.
It got to six villages in three states, with 1205 residents in 987 dwellings.
