AN INTERVIEW WITH ADAM YATES – CEO OF KARAKA PINES VILLAGES

How long have you worked in the retirement village industry?

Over 24 years ago, starting as CEO of Manor Group developing and managing aged care facilities, retirement units and serviced apartments.

What is different about a Karaka Pines Village?

Other retirement villages operate traditionally, where residents pay a large fee for the services and facilities provided but don’t get any capital gain on their home. I don’t think that is very fair.

One of the things I noticed as CEO of Manor Group was the number of people who wanted to move into one of our units or apartments, but who couldn’t afford to leave the village that they were currently living in. They were trapped in a sort of financial servitude. That was a huge wake up call for me. So, I asked myself:

“Can a retirement village be developed profitably without taking the resident’s capital gain?“

The answer was yes, and so that’s what I did. Kempton Park Village was registered in 2011. Roseland Park was started a few years later and Woodcroft Estate in 2016.