Infinite Care’s Melbourne expansion continues with ready-made purchase

Infinite Care is doubling down on its Victorian expansion, securing its first Melbourne-based site, complementing the current construction of a 177-bed home in the city’s outer suburbs.

Infinite Care operates across Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales, but before 2024 it had yet to move into the Victorian market. 

The construction of a 177-bed, six-story home in Knoxfield, Melbourne, was announced in February as its flagship site in the region. Now they are adding a second 60-bed home after purchasing a ready-made vacant facility in Windsor for $11.75 million.

Located just 7 kilometres from Melbourne’s CBD, the site was previously managed by Estia Health until late 2021. It was renovated to accommodate NDIS usage following a sale in 2022. 

CBRE’s Australian Healthcare and Social Infrastructure team of Sandro Peluso, Marcello Caspani-Muto and Jimmy Tat managed the sale with Mr Peluso praising the site’s overall quality ahead of the sale.

“In this scenario, the underlying land value is worth north of $8,000,000 and potentially even over $10,000,000,” he said. 

“There is a real lack of comparable sales for land of this size in the area given how tightly held assets within Stonnington are. Couple that with a building of circa 60 beds that requires minimal maintenance and refurbishment work and the purchase proposition is highly compelling.”

Mr Tat backed up the claims, labelling it one of the highest quality vacant offerings the aged care sector has seen in recent years. 

“We have seen a positive trajectory of growth across the aged care sector over the past 12 months,” Mr Tat said. 

“The market is experiencing a strong average occupancy of more than 90%, which is giving aged care and senior living providers the confidence to plan for expansion or upgrades. This drive for growth is also attracting international investors who have been waiting for the right opportunity to enter the market.”

Infinite Care’s founders and joint Managing Directors, Tony Partridge and Chris Stride, said they were pleased to expand the company’s residential aged care home footprint into Victoria ahead of their 2025 launch. 

“Our new 60-bed Infinite Care Prahran home at Windsor is expected to open in mid-2025 and will complement our new 177-bed home at Knoxfield which is due to open in late-2025,” Mr Partridge said. 

“Our new Victorian homes will provide the highest level of care and service experiences for our residents. We look forward to building a new passionate team in Victoria in a supportive and nurturing environment.”

The sale is a sign that ready-to-go aged care sites are in high demand with Colliers Healthcare and Retirement Living National Director, Chris O’Driscoll, telling The Urban Developer that the market is gaining momentum.

Mr O’Driscoll’s company recently sold Highfields Manor Aged Care and The Palms to New South Wales provider, Ibis Care.

“With a critical housing supply shortage, against a backdrop of significant immigration and population growth and low residential vacancy rates, aged care should be part of the housing solution, but the cost of construction has limited the amount of new stock coming to market,” O’Driscoll said.

“However, over the past 12 months, we have seen the market gaining momentum, with growth in the number of facilities exchanging.”