BlueCross Ruckers Hill: Northcote aged-care home where 12 died of Covid-19 for sale
The former BlueCross Ruckers Hill aged care home will soon be for sale.
A Northcote aged-care centre where 12 residents died from Covid-19 last year will soon be listed for sale.
The former BlueCross Ruckers Hill facility had long been regarded as one of the area’s most esteemed aged-care homes, but its backers elected to close its doors earlier this year.
The 14-24 Pearl St property was one of several severely affected by coronavirus outbreaks during Victoria’s horror second wave, with 12 deaths and 132 infections recorded.
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In a statement to the Herald Sun in March, BlueCross said the decision had not been taken lightly.
“The closure of the residence is part of BlueCross’ strategic plan to consolidate its service offerings to enable the company to provide the best possible care for residents into the future,’’ it said.
“In making the decision, several key factors were taken into consideration including the residence’s current building design, potential for redevelopment, occupancy level, as well as demand for places, growth potential in the area and the recommendations from the Royal Commission.”
The property is set on a substantial, 3000sq m site.
CBRE commercial property agents Marcello Caspani-Muto, Jimmy Tat and Sandro Peluso will handle the sale and have noted they expect it to be highly sought-after by other aged-care or healthcare operators.
The almost 3000sq m property has a three-storey complex on it housing 75 aged-care beds.
“We expect this opportunity to generate interest from a number of buyer profiles given its location,” Mr Caspani-Muto said.
“An offering of this scale so close to the Melbourne CBD, particularly within a top 10 Victorian suburb like Northcote is incredibly rare.”
The agents were not able to indicate a likely sale price, but indicated the land and building would be sold at below replacement cost.
It is expected to be advertised for sale next week, with an expressions of interest campaign to close early in September.
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