Retirement villages have been a reliable source of wealth for many Rich Listers, including the Murphy family. The family shares in the ownership of four villages in the Auckland region, which have a collective value of more than $200 million.
Operating as the Real Living Group, the business is one of Auckland’s largest privately owned retirement companies. Director Chris Murphy said the company takes pride in being family-owned and offering high-quality living options and communal facilities.
“We are very resident-focused. We invest in open, regular communication, quality food, care, engaging and regular activity and services to meet residents’ needs. All of the owners are involved in a hands-on way in the villages.”
Valued at just over $100m, the Pakuranga Park Village is by far the largest complex. Established in 1980 by the late Erin Murphy on 12ha of park-like grounds, the village has expanded over the years to include about 200 individual units and townhouses along with a gymnasium, library and movie room.
The family also owns the $39m Remuera Gardens Village and the $36m Epsom Village, both acquired from ING Real Living – a joint venture involving the Colin Reynolds-owned Symphony Group – which had been considering an IPO for the villages in 2009.
The most recent development is the $27m Oaks on Neville consisting of an 86-unit village and 30-bed aged-care complex plus a café and retail space built on the old Warkworth Hotel site, which still operates as a tavern and restaurant.
Real Living director Kevin Murphy says it’s the first retirement village built in a little township with everything nearby. “The beauty of this village is they are going to have people living centrally and shopping on a daily basis, so the injection of money into Warkworth businesses is quite phenomenal,” he has been quoted as saying.
With the exception of Pakuranga Park, ownership of the villages is shared on a 80/20 basis with the Murphys’ Manukau-based family accountant Greg Kasper – the 1991 Auckland Grammar Old Boy of the Year – who struck up a business relationship with Erin Murphy when Pakuranga Park was being developed in the early 1980s.
As chair of the Real Living Group, Kasper said people don’t realise how valuable the business is. Further developments are likely to include a 57-unit complex in Remuera, which is now going through the resource consent process.
The Murphy clan includes the family matriarch, Lynnette, and her daughters Helen and Bridget (who is married to South Island pig farmer Jason Palmer who co-owns Southern Pork and has shares in a $10m dairy farm on the Canterbury Plains). Brothers Kevin and Chris help manage the Real Living Group. Chris is a Warkworth lawyer and member of the One Warkworth lobby group, and also has a financial interest in the Rodney Surgical Centre.
Photo: Mahurangi Matters