Who doesn’t love the feeling of being on holiday? The type of place where every aspect of your accommodation is just perfect, you have a concierge enacting your every whim and you are just steps away from entertainment and modern amenities but can still find areas where you can relax and unwind.
Now, imagine living as though you are on holiday every single day. If that sounds like your idea of a great retirement, take a closer look at Ardency Kennedy Place, the first luxury-hotel-style, over-55s community of its kind in Victoria.
Ardency Kennedy Place is where retirement dreams of an urban, connected lifestyle in a vibrant community surrounded by other discerning retirees come true. So much so that the three Ardency communities in New South Wales have waiting lists of over-55s desperate for the chance to move in!
Global real estate and investment group, Lendlease is the trusted name behind the Ardency communities. Lendlease was founded in Sydney in 1958 and has since created some of the country’s most iconic and best-known buildings, including the Sydney Opera House and Caltex House, which was Australia’s first skyscraper and once the country’s tallest building.
To create an over-55s community of a calibre never seen before in Victoria, Lendlease partnered with award-winning architects Bates Smart, resulting in a design that offers residents safety and security, while still being well-connected with the local area and very easy to navigate.
The mix of a storied global property company and cutting-edge architectural design aren’t the only elements that make Ardency Kennedy Place special, however. While retirement living opportunities for older Australians are typically difficult to obtain in inner-city areas, Ardency Kennedy Place couldn’t be more centrally located.
Ardency Kennedy Place is in east Richmond, just four kilometres from Melbourne’s city centre. The suburb is known for its mix of heritage buildings, rich cultural history, array of great restaurants offering international cuisines and nearby Burnley Gardens, an urban oasis created in 1861 that provides locals with a much-loved green escape from city life.
Walking trails and cycle paths that venture along the Yarra River are all easily accessed from Ardency Kennedy Place, which is also about 1km from Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre. What’s more, the development has an ‘excellent’ transit score for its proximity to trains and trams.
Ardency Kennedy Place itself has everything a lover of Melbourne’s historic vibe and multicultural energy could want, with a surprisingly fascinating history to boot. The Ardency Kennedy Place development encompasses a 1908 building that was the home of Wertheim Pianos (used by Dame Nellie Melba, among other stars of the time), and then Heinz, before becoming the Nine Network’s studios. Some of our most memorable TV shows were shot at ‘Little Hollywood’, as the building became known, and the street name honours Aussie TV king Graham Kennedy.
As part of the redevelopment of the area, the surrounds of Ardency Kennedy Place will also house a Catholic Healthcare aged care facility and 31 private terraces for residential buyers – all of which ensures that Ardency Kennedy Place remains part of the sophisticated urban life that surrounds it.
If you haven’t fallen in love with the connected lifestyle such a lively location can offer, the luxurious interiors and hotel-style facilities at Ardency Kennedy Place might win you over.
Every apartment is open plan and far larger than you’d expect of an inner-city residence (91sqm for a one bedroom, up to a huge 178sqm with a 90sqm terrace for a three-and-a-half bedroom penthouse), while designer Italian kitchens and European appliances add to the luxury feel of the apartments, which Bates Smart designed to maximise natural light and a sense of spaciousness.
That feeling of space is key if you’re ‘downsizing’ from a suburban family home, but there’s no compromise with Ardency Kennedy Place because all apartments have generous built-in storage, plus big balconies situated to take in the fantastic views, adding to the amount of entertaining space available. (If these pictures aren’t sufficient, check out this virtual tour of the apartment choices.)
For really big celebrations such as an extended family Christmas, Ardency Kennedy Place has a private dining room and bar that seats more than 55 people, all for the exclusive use of residents and their guests (the dining room comes with a well-appointed kitchen in case you want to employ off-site caterers to really wow your guests!).
Also within easy access of your apartment are the resort-like facilities housed within the Ardency Kennedy Place development, including a 40-seat private cinema, well-stocked library and resort-style wellness centre with a gym, heated indoor pool and a yoga and Pilates studio.
If you love outdoor entertaining or just soaking up the sun and fresh air, you’ll love inviting friends to experience the rooftop barbecue facilities with panoramic city views. Alternatively, you can stay cool on the shaded rooftop terrace or enjoy the feeling of getting back to nature at the rooftop community vegetable and herb gardens.
Then at night you can relax in the exclusive residents’ Masters Lounge, with a fireplace, dining spaces, a billiard table and – in a nod to its roots – a Wertheim baby grand piano. It really is like being a member of a private club – and all of the other members have the same refined tastes.
The fun (and convenience) doesn’t end when you leave your building either, because Ardency Kennedy Place has its own on-site cafe and providore, plus health, beauty and massage services, a hair salon, medical services and consulting rooms.
Your future health needs are taken care of too, thanks to Ardency Kennedy Place’s partnership with Catholic Healthcare, which ensures residents of Ardency Kennedy Place have priority access to the Catholic Healthcare residential aged care home that will be built as part of the surrounding development.
Right now, though, just imagine how lovely it’d be to host your loved ones in your new, luxurious home, or take them out to explore your action-packed neighbourhood! To feed your imagination, you can ‘experience’ the amenities via this virtual tour.
The description of Ardency Kennedy Place as a space where it feels as if every day is a holiday really isn’t an exaggeration. That’s because residents have exclusive access to a concierge service from 8am-8pm every day, where everything from restaurant bookings and tickets to shows to maintenance issues are taken care of with the attention to detail you’d expect from a concierge at a five-star hotel.
Don’t feel like cooking? There’s in-room dining you can summon just as you would room service. Rather get a lift than make your own way? There’s a dedicated residents’ bus service to key destinations, plus a GoGet car-sharing service that provides access to a short-term rental vehicle when you need it.
An on-site club manager and gardener ensure all facilities and surrounds are in tip-top condition, and a seven-day social calendar for residents (think masterclasses, guest speakers, local excursions, long lunches and more) guarantees there’s never a quiet moment at Ardency Kennedy Place – unless, of course, you opt for one at the wellness centre.
An urban, connected retirement isn’t for everyone – tree-changers and sea-changers certainly aren’t heading for the bustle of the inner city.
But if you’re a person who unashamedly enjoys the finer things in life and the type of effortless existence that can only be achieved when work and money worries are a thing of the past, Ardency Kennedy Place is the place to be (you’re far from alone in enjoying these things either, as the waiting lists at Ardency’s NSW luxury communities attest).
And apartments in this exclusive community, which will be ready to welcome residents in 2022, are expected to sell quickly, with construction commencing in late January 2021.
So if Ardency Kennedy Place offers the retirement lifestyle you picture yourself enjoying, don’t miss the opportunity to hear more about how you can purchase a slice of such an elite development. Independent downsizing expert and author Rachel Lane will host a virtual happy hour and webinar for interested over-55s on December 10 at 2pm AEDT, where she’ll explain the options for buying into Ardency Kennedy Place. You can register to join the free, online event with Rachel here – and receive a bottle of wine courtesy of Lendlease to ensure your hour is indeed happy!
Or you can lodge an expression of interest on the Ardency Kennedy Place website, allowing Lendlease’s experienced retirement living consultants to provide you with more information on how you can truly ‘redefine retirement’ at this one-of-a-kind location.