Evergreen aims to grow tenfold
SA’s largest retirement village operator, Evergreen Lifestyle Investments, which is owned by financial services group PSG and property developer Amdec, plans to grow its national business 10-fold to R30bn in the next 10 years.
SA’s largest retirement village operator, Evergreen Lifestyle Investments, which is owned by financial services group PSG and property developer Amdec, plans to grow its national business 10-fold to R30bn in the next 10 years.
Evergreen Lifestyle was formed after the 2008-2009 economic crisis when its initial investors saw a need for serviced retirement living in SA. PSG and Amdec own 50% each in Evergreen. MD Cobus Bedeker said Evergreen would grow its investment base from 1,000 residential units to 10,000 units by 2030.
“We are already the biggest retirement estate living provider nationally and believe there are huge opportunities in this property class in SA. Too many senior people are stuck in inadequate houses when they could be living in an estate which offers them services and a sense of community,” he said.
Bedeker said the Covid-19 pandemic had highlighted that there was “tremendous demand” for retirement options based on life rights in SA.
Life rights are a way of purchasing the right to live in a specific unit in a retirement facility, giving the purchaser security of tenure for the remainder of his or her life.
Unlike with a sectional title property, a life right purchase does not include a property transfer. There are no bond registration fees, no transfer duties and no VAT payable. This avoids the negative effects that such additional costs can have on discretionary income.
Bedeker said the company’s 1,000 operational units were spread across seven villages in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town and served 1,200 residents. The pipeline includes 5,000 units for six new villages.
Residents bought the units using the life rights model. The developer retains sole ownership of each unit and carries the responsibility for external maintenance of each unit, its clubhouses and other facilities.
The group’s units were priced from R500,000-R7m. The top-range units, priced from R4.5m-R7m, were located in the most expensive estate in SA: the Val de Vie Estate in the Cape winelands.
But the Covid-19 pandemic has stalled new developments at the company. Evergreen Lifestyle had become aware of the coronavirus at the end of 2019 and had placed all of its estates in lockdown at the beginning of March, before SA officially went into a government-imposed lockdown. None of Evergreen’s staff or its residents have tested positive for Covid-19.
“This is a very serious and infectious disease. We have the [personal protective equipment] and procedures in place should someone we care for or employ test positive,” Bedeker said.
Asked if Evergreen intends to list, he said: “We might list one day but we aren’t aiming to at the moment. We are already half owned by a listed company.”