Ryman Keeps Takapuna After Freezing a $120 Million Village

Ryman Healthcare still holds its excavated Takapuna site as one of five leftover greenfield options after freezing a $120 million village. The former fire station at 41-45 Killarney Street sits next to Killarney Park on Lake Pupuke, in the land bank, not on the sale sheet.

In May 2026 the company named Takapuna among five sites kept for possible future development and said it is waiting for stronger market signals before it commits capital. Construction has not resumed since the basement was stabilised in 2024.

A Lakeside Site Ryman Would Not Sell

The pause that looked like a retreat in February 2024 is now a position. Ryman cut active construction from 14 sites in FY23 to two by 31 March 2026, sold or listed other land, and still booked Takapuna as a future village. Auckland is down as 11 open villages and two greenfield parcels. One of those parcels is Karaka. The other is Killarney Street.

That is a different outcome from Kohimarama, Newtown and Park Terrace, which went onto the sale list as the company rebuilt cash. Takapuna is the smallest retained greenfield site, already dug, already consented for five storeys, and still carrying 134 potential units and beds.

THE TAKAPUNA BET ON THE BOOKS

• Land held: 0.7 hectares, almost 7,000 sq m, former Takapuna fire station beside Killarney Park.
• Homes on paper: 134 potential units and beds in the February 2026 investor day, against 143 in the 2020 mix.
• Build status: basement excavation stabilised in 2024; no active construction at 31 March 2026.
• Company stance: one of five greenfield sites retained, with capital held back until the market turns.

Chief executive Naomi James, in the role since November 2024, has tied new work to demand and to a smaller build programme. The FY26 results presentation said the group is “waiting for stronger market signals before committing capital.” Killarney Street is inside that wait.

What the $120 Million Village Was Meant to Be

Ryman’s 2020 plan for the old Takapuna fire station was a five-storey village of about 67 independent apartments and 45 care beds, plus 31 serviced apartments, budgeted at $120 million, with a cinema, salon, bar and café beside Killarney Park. The land already had resource consent. The purchase was subject to Overseas Investment Office approval, and the company later completed it.

Jeremy Moore, then chief development officer, sold the location as a boutique North Shore village with lake and city views.

Our residents are in for a treat. There are stunning views in all directions and it’s close to everything you could need in Takapuna. We think it is a stunner, and we can’t wait to get going and build.

Jeremy Moore, Chief Development Officer, Ryman Healthcare media release, 12 June 2020

The amenities list was the standard Ryman main-building package, scaled to a tight lakeside block rather than a greenfield campus.

THE 2020 TAKAPUNA MIX

• Independent apartments: about 67 homes on the five-storey consent.
• Serviced apartments: 31 assisted-living units.
• Aged care: 45 resthome, hospital and dementia beds.
• Shared facilities: movie theatre, hair and beauty salons, a bar and a café.

Ryman asked the public for a local name, as it does with every village. No name has been attached in later results decks. On 29 April 2022, Matua Matt Maihi, Connie Maihi and Wyllis Maihi from Ngāti Whātua ō Ōrākei led a karakia on Killarney Street. David King, then corporate affairs manager, told them the company now had to build it.

Five Greenfield Bets After the Land Cull

The February 2026 investor day put an 0.7 hectare site and 134 units on the Takapuna line, nine fewer than the 143 homes and beds in the 2020 mix, and the May results kept it off the sale list. Design work across the land bank, the FY26 presentation said, is under review for product mix, unit layout and main-building form. The 134 figure is the working yield, not a start date.

How Many Units Sit in the Takapuna Land Bank?

Takapuna is the smallest of the five greenfield sites Ryman kept, and the only one already excavated. Karaka and Taupō are each 9.9 hectares. The two Melbourne sites, Essendon and Ringwood East, are larger than Killarney Street and were never dug for a Ryman basement. Together the five sites add to 1,459 potential units and beds.

RETAINED GREENFIELD SITES AT 31 MARCH 2026

The 8 June 2026 bond presentation valued the whole land bank at $351 million and the five retained sites at $142 million. Auckland’s two greenfield ticks on that map are Karaka and Takapuna. James told investors in February that Australia looked more attractive for new greenfield work, with lower retirement-village penetration and aged-care reforms finished, while New Zealand looked better for building on villages already open. Keeping a 0.7 hectare North Shore hole is the exception inside that split.

The Last Cheques Landed on Frozen Ground

Ryman did not mothball Takapuna because it had stopped spending on the address. FY26 land-acquisition cash of $9.5 million was the final payments on the Takapuna and Taupō sites, according to the results presentation. Direct construction capex fell from $365.6 million in FY25 to $129.2 million in FY26 as in-flight villages were finished and new holes were not opened. Total capex dropped from $535.9 million to $221.8 million.

That cut is the cash engine. The company reported its first positive free cash flow in a decade, $188 million, for the year ended 31 March 2026. Operating revenue was $849 million. Operating EBITDAF was $88 million, against $45.5 million a year earlier. The loss before tax and fair value movements narrowed to -$73 million from -$385 million. Gearing sat at 27.8 percent, with net interest-bearing debt of $1,571 million.

The reset of our operating model is delivering materially improved financial performance despite mixed market conditions and creating a more sustainable business.

Naomi James, Chief Executive Officer, Ryman Healthcare FY26 results, 26 May 2026

The reset was expensive for shareholders before it was cheap for the build programme. Ryman completed a $1 billion equity raise in 2025, a $313 million placement and a $688 million entitlement offer at $3.05 a share, after James took over from the executive-chair period under Dean Hamilton. Selling premium Auckland land into a weak housing market had already been a warning, in late 2023, that the development book was larger than the balance sheet could carry. The raise made that warning official.

FROM BLESSING TO LAND BANK

1. 12 June 2020: Announces a $120 million five-storey village on the former Takapuna fire station, subject to Overseas Investment Office approval.
2. 29 April 2022: Holds a karakia on Killarney Street with Ngāti Whātua ō Ōrākei and says the next work is stormwater and the basement.
3. February 2024: Stabilises the basement excavation and pauses all further development on the site.
4. November 2024: Naomi James starts as chief executive after a board-led reset.
5. March 2025: Completes the $1 billion equity raise to cut debt.
6. 3 February 2026: Investor day keeps Takapuna in the greenfield bank at 0.7 hectares and 134 units and beds.
7. 26 May 2026: FY26 results name Takapuna among five retained greenfield sites and report two sites under active construction.
8. 8 June 2026: Bond presentation values the five retained sites at $142 million inside a $351 million land bank.

Richard Umbers, then chief executive, had already called the housing market “challenging” in November 2023 as occupation-right sales slowed and margins narrowed. In February 2024 the company cut its underlying profit outlook from $300-330 million to $265-285 million. A spokesperson said activity on site to stabilise the basement excavation was in the final phase, and that from there all ongoing development would be paused. That wording still describes the ground.

Killarney Street After the Excavators Left

The site is a basement in a suburb that was promised a village. Killarney Park and Lake Pupuke sit next to a block that has been through groundworks, stormwater prep and excavation, then a halt. Ryman has not published a new artist’s impression, a new unit mix beyond the 134 land-bank line, or a year in which residents might move in.

King’s 2022 line now reads as a date stamp on work that stopped.

Now all we have to do is get on and build it.

David King, Corporate Affairs Manager, Ryman Healthcare, Killarney Street karakia, 29 April 2022

The North Shore already has Ryman villages at Birkenhead, Lynfield and Devonport, with larger campuses at Remuera and St Heliers. Takapuna was meant to be the lakeside boutique, close to shops, on a block too small for townhouses. Leaving a consented, excavated 0.7 hectare site idle is cheaper than pouring a five-storey care building into a slow resale market. It also leaves 45 aged-care beds on a spreadsheet instead of on Killarney Street.

WHAT WE KNOW

• Ownership: Ryman still holds 41-45 Killarney Street and finished related land payments in FY26, alongside Taupō.
• Classification: Retained greenfield, not a contracted sale, in the 26 May 2026 results and the 8 June 2026 bond deck.
• Physical work: Earthworks and basement excavation were done; the 2024 instruction was to pause after stabilising the hole.

WHAT IS UNCONFIRMED

• Restart: No construction year has been published for Takapuna.
• Design: Whether the five-storey 67/31/45 mix still applies, or only the 134 land-bank total.
• Name: No village name has been locked in since the 2020 call for suggestions.

Park Terrace in Christchurch shows the other path. After a delay, Ryman contracted that land for $42.0 million and scheduled settlement in FY27. Killarney Street was not put in that pile.

The Auckland Parcel That Went to Market

The keep-list is easier to read against the sale-list. Newtown settled in the first half of FY25 for $7.1 million. Karori brought $23.0 million. Surplus land beside Nellie Melba brought $9.9 million. Mt Eliza in Victoria contracted at $34.8 million. Those three FY26 settlements, with a Park Terrace deposit, fed $73.8 million of land and asset sale proceeds. The divestment target was lifted from $200 million to about $250 million, with $147 million contracted and $72 million of cash in by the May result.

PRICED EXITS FROM THE LAND BANK

• Newtown: $7.1 million, settled in 1H25.
• Karori: $23.0 million, settled in 2H26.
• Nellie Melba surplus: $9.9 million, settled in 2H26.
• Mt Eliza: $34.8 million, contracted in November 2025 and settled in 2H26.
• Park Terrace: $42.0 million, contracted in November 2025, settlement expected in FY27.
• Kealba: A$30.9 million (NZ$37.0 million), contracted in 1H27.

Kohimarama is the Auckland comparison that matters for Takapuna. It sits on the May 2026 divestment slide with Rolleston, Hornby, Riccarton and Coburg North, without a signed price in that deck. Both Kohimarama and Takapuna were premium Auckland addresses in the old development machine. One is being sold. One is being held with a hole in the ground and 134 units on a slide. The difference is size, consent, excavation already spent, and a 0.7 hectare footprint that still matches a boutique main building if house prices in Takapuna recover enough to clear Ryman’s hurdle rate.

No Date for the Cranes to Return

FY26 delivered 330 units and beds. Guidance for FY27 is 157 to 168, with about $90 million to $110 million of development capex inside a $150 million to $180 million total capex range. Only two sites were under active construction at year end. Uncommitted stages at villages already open, 344 units and beds in the May deck, sit ahead of any greenfield start. James has also pointed to a $500 million cash-release target by FY29, with $169 million booked in FY26, and to a path toward dividends in FY28.

None of those targets requires a crane on Killarney Street. The five retained greenfield sites are described as catchments with enduring demand and house prices aligned with Ryman’s target market. Takapuna is on that list because the company still wants the option, not because it has funded the rest of the $120 million village. Until sales of existing stock and resales throw off more cash, and until North Shore pricing looks strong enough to carry occupation-right margins, the basement stays a basement.

Ryman listed Takapuna with Karaka, Taupō, Essendon and Ringwood East as the five greenfield sites it will not sell while it waits. The 45 care beds, the 67 independent apartments in the original plan, and the name the suburb was asked to suggest all remain on the same clock.

Disclaimer: This article is news reporting and analysis of Ryman Healthcare’s public statements, results presentations and land-bank disclosures, and is for information only. It is not investment advice, a recommendation to buy or sell Ryman shares or bonds, or advice on occupation-right agreements or aged-care contracts. Readers who are considering securities, village contracts or care placements should consult a licensed financial adviser, a solicitor experienced in retirement-village law, or an aged-care advocate before acting. Figures, site statuses and guidance are those published by the company on the dates named in the article and may change with later results, sales or board decisions.