Aegis plans $14m hospital redevelopment

WESTERN Australia’s biggest aged care provider, Aegis, is planning an estimated $14 million redevelopment of the historic Swanbourne Hospital site, ending decades of doubt about the striking location perched in the midst of the modern Mount Claremont subdivision.

Aegis Aged Care Group chief executive Michael Cross revealed the company had contracted to purchase the former hospital for the mentally ill for an undisclosed sum, intending to turn it into the firm’s 29th facility in the state to provide premium care for 80 residents.

One of the state’s leading employers with 2,465 staff, Aegis has more than 2,200 beds in WA, more than twice as many as the next biggest local player, Uniting Church Homes (see Juniper takes 'church' out).

The ambitious move by the sector’s leader comes amid rising concerns from aged care players that federal government restrictions and funding reductions have effectively halted construction of new facilities since 2007 and left WA more than 3,000 beds short of the number required.   

The vendor of the 16,789 square metre hospital site was Swanbourne Estate Developments, a company owned by property developer and medical practitioner Garry Garside; it bought the heritage property and adjoining land from the state government in 2006 for nearly $6.7 million.

The property was marketed as a $50 million residential and commercial redevelopment through Dr Garside’s firm Watersun Property. 

The site was the last remaining remnant of the extensive hospital grounds and buildings, which had been sold off and redeveloped in the 1980s and 1990s to form the heights of Mount Claremont and John XXIII College.  

After subdividing approximately 1 hectare of the land into 14 residential lots – most of which are understood to have been sold – the owner’s efforts to redevelop the central heritage part of the site were thwarted by the approvals process, specifically at local government level.

Two months ago, Swanbourne Estate Developments won WA Planning Commission approval to divide the site and its buildings into three parcels, which could be sold individually. 

Mr Cross said the WAPC approval was a catalyst to Aegis moving on the site even though its intention was to keep all three lots

Mr Cross, who jointly owns Aegis with his business partner Geoff Taylor, said it was the first time the group had attempted to turn a heritage building into an aged care facility.

He said land values, the site’s advantages, and positive redevelopment experience had led the group to take-up the opportunity.

“Having acquired and very successfully rejuvenated the Stirling Community Hospital in 2003 into a popular facility, I was attracted to the opportunities the Swanbourne Hospital buildings represented for conversion, despite the additional significant challenges associated with heritage considerations,” Mr Cross said

He said Aegis has already consulted with a heritage architect who knows the site and had positive discussions with the City of Nedlands, the Heritage Council, and a community representative.

However, he acknowledged there was still significant work to be done to ensure its proposal would receive the green light.

“If this conservation is to proceed for the benefit of future care recipients and the heritage interests of the wider community, we will need all the interested parties to adopt a reasonable and conciliatory approach to our proposed conservation works so that the ongoing deterioration of these heritage buildings can cease and we can achieve a sustainable outcome for present and future generations,” Mr Cross said.