Estate Living Magazine Retirement Living - Issue 40 April 2019 | Page 23

P R O P E R T Y
&
I N V E S T M E N T
that offer the full range of care. Each care centre has a
clinic for primary healthcare needs like blood pressure
monitoring or wound dressing, and rooms for doctors,
physiotherapists and other healthcare professionals.
‘At the moment, there are some care centre residents
with mild dementia,’ says Case, ‘but, as this condition is
becoming more and more widespread, we’ve realised
we have to provide dedicated dementia care centres as
well.’
Evergreen Lifestyle Village Noordhoek
Each care centre has a minimum of 32 beds, as it is
just not economically feasible to run a smaller centre.
Muizenberg has been approved for sub-acute facilities,
and the other centres will be too.
The care centres also have dedicated dining and lounge
areas. This, Case explains, is because, while the care
aspect of Evergreen villages is paramount, the estates
are, first and foremost, lifestyle estates, and Evergreen’s
lifestyle culture is about hospitality and fine living – and
discreet care.
Evergreen Lifestyle Village Val de Vie
where an apartment block with 22 luxury apartments is almost
complete. And, in Gauteng, Broadacres will soon have 108 new
apartments in two separate blocks.
Continuous care
'We have been slowly changing the perception of life right. In the past,
life right was considered a bad move investment-wise, but potential
residents are starting to realise it’s not a financial investment – it’s a
lifestyle investment, a long-term relationship in which the developer
is in it for the long run.' adds Case
The life right model is designed specifically to address the
challenges of ageing. Case outlines ‘four fears’ that many South
African seniors share as they age.
The two big existing Evergreen villages, Muizenberg and
Broadacres, have world-class 2,000-square-metre care centres
Having started in Cape Town, the Evergreen brand is quite well
known in the Western Cape, but it is rapidly expanding. Evergreen
Broadacres is the first village in Gauteng, and there are a slew
of new villages planned in KwaZulu-Natal. Evergreen uMhlanga
Ridge will open first, with Evergreen Zimbali Lakes close behind,
and then Hilton.
E
We are driving the notion of continuous care. So in each village
you will get independent living, primary healthcare, home-based
care, frail care, dementia care, recuperative care and palliative
care. Because we sell a life right, we need to be able to cater for
our residents until the end of their lives – whatever their needs. The
commitment to bigger villages makes investment in large care
centres economically viable – we must have continuous care.
Beyond Cape Town
But this expansion is not just for the sake of putting more houses on
the ground. It’s in order to effectively and affordably increase the
level of care in all of the estates. ‘We are moving on to having all
levels of care in all of the estates,’ says Case.
‘Our strategy,’ he explains, ‘is to create a lifestyle and
hospitality culture supported by a comprehensive
healthcare model.’ This is why they have brought in one
of the top hoteliers in South Africa to head up ELV. ‘Garry
will take us to a new level of hospitality,’ Case says. ‘He
ran the Lost City, and other top hotels.’