Keyton acquires land for new retirement community in Melbourne’s Vermont South

Keyton, a leading Australian retirement living developer, has announced the acquisition of its first land parcel under its new name at 500 Burwood Highway in Vermont South, Melbourne.

Nathan Cockerill, Keyton Chief Executive Officer, said: “This is an exciting milestone for Keyton as we pursue our growth strategy both here in Victoria and across Australia.”

The site, formerly the Australian Roads Research Board (ARRB) headquarters, is located 20km from Melbourne’s CBD and offers views of the Dandenong ranges.

Jason Fitzgerald, Keyton’s Head of Development, stated: “This is a fantastic site with all the key attributes to deliver a truly inspired and connected retirement living community. Our vision will deliver high-quality, purpose-built seniors’ residences for sustainable low-cost living within a connected and supportive community environment.”

The development plans include preserving and adapting the site’s heritage building as a centrepiece for the new community.

Cockerill highlighted the project’s potential impact on housing supply: “Housing affordability, as a product of constrained supply is a national issue and is dominating current public debate. The federal government recognised that retirement living communities can help ease this problem in its recent decision to include retirement living units in its national target for 1.2 million new homes over the next five years.”

He added that retirement living communities can contribute to easing the national housing crisis by providing affordable options for seniors and freeing up existing housing stock.

Keyton, which owns and operates over 75 over-55’s living communities across Australia with 17,000 residents, is owned by a consortium including Aware Super, APG Asset Management and Lendlease.

The company views this acquisition as a significant step in its national growth strategy and an addition to its Victorian development pipeline.