$200m sale paves the way for Gosford Private redevelopment
Gosford Private is excited to announce the sale of the hospital and land to property investor group Barwon Investment Partners, paving the way for a $32 million redevelopment. Learn more.
Barwon Investment Partners (Barwon) and Healthe Care Australia (Healthe Care) have partnered to conclude a sale-and-lease-back transaction to acquire Gosford Private Hospital on the Central Coast, NSW.
The acquisition is on behalf of the Barwon Institutional Healthcare Property Fund; while current owner and Australia’s third largest private hospital operator, Healthe Care will continue to operate Gosford Private on a long term 25 year lease arrangement, with options for up to a further 75 years.
The transaction will facilitate further investment and material expansion of Gosford Private, with plans for a $32m redevelopment to ultimately deliver 12 theatres, additional beds, an expanded day surgery unit/recovery chairs, a brand new maternity ward and more to meet the growing demands of the Central Coast community already approved.
“The redevelopment of Gosford Private is an exciting opportunity for our staff, Doctors and the local Central Coast community. Having additional theatres, beds, a new purpose-built maternity ward and additional car parking allows us to continue to service our local community, with world-class facilities and a patient experience to match,” said Matt Kelly, CEO of Gosford Private Hospital.
Barwon Founding Partner Robert Morrison said they were pleased to announce this acquisition, which will be a strong addition to the Barwon Institutional Healthcare Property Fund.
“Our institutional investors are seeking exposure to the recurrent income and growth opportunities in the healthcare property sector and this investment will further improve the quality and diversification of our portfolio.”
Barwon Partner and Head of Healthcare Property Tom Patrick said the asset represented a key component of the healthcare infrastructure in the fast-growing Gosford region.
“The site is expansive, and lends itself to future brownfield development opportunities. We will be working closely with Healthe Care to expand and upgrade this important hospital facility, to better serve the Gosford community.”
Healthe Care CEO, Steve Atkins said the sale of Gosford Private secured Healthe Care’s future commitment to invest and grow Gosford Private to meet the needs of the community.
“Having Barwon as our property partner in this growth is an exciting opportunity for all involved. Gosford Private was one of our first hospital acquisitions, and the only asset across our portfolio of 34 healthcare facilities that we own. First and foremost we are a hospital operator, so this transaction allows Barwon to manage the asset, while Healthe Care focuses on providing clinical best practice, innovation in service delivery and positive patient outcomes, as we’ve done since 2005.”
Gosford Private Hospital currently has 129 inpatient beds, 74 treatment stations, 9 operating theatres, 2 cardiac catherisation labs and 2 endoscopy procedure rooms. The property has a gross floor area of 13,855sqm and a site area of 23,990sqm. It is the region’s dominant private hospital offering high acuity care for residents in Gosford and the fast-growing coastal communities between Sydney and Newcastle.
It is Healthe Care’s third private hospital on the Central Coast alongside Brisbane Waters Private Hospital (109 beds, Woy Woy) and Tuggerah Lakes Private Hospital (20 beds, Kanwal).
Barwon Institutional Healthcare Property Fund was launched in November 2016 when Barwon secured $300m of seed equity commitments from five Australian Institutional Investors including four superannuation funds. The Fund has since grown to a gross asset value of $500m comprising 13 healthcare assets including the Calvary John James Hospital in Canberra and the new Somerset Private Hospital currently under development in Penrith. Other portfolio assets include pathology laboratory facilities, mental health hospitals, oncology facilities and multidiscipline medical centres located in QLD, NSW, Victoria, ACT and WA.
In 2018/19 Barwon has been fund raising to further expand the Barwon Institutional Healthcare Property Fund. Barwon is pleased to announce that it has raised a further $375m of equity commitments from existing and new fund investors. In addition to Gosford Private Hospital, this equity will be deployed into secondary and tertiary healthcare assets offering long leases with strong operators. Barwon’s fund mandate allows it to invest in established healthcare assets as well as brown field expansion assets and green field developments where Barwon will partner with hospital operators and healthcare developers.