First place, last chance – Final homes selling now at Woodend

AFTER JUST OVER FIVE YEARS, NEW HOME SALES AT GEMLIFE WOODEND ARE ABOUT TO DRAW TO A CLOSE.

There are only four new homes left at the resort, located in the popular treechange town of Woodend, in the majestic Macedon Ranges region of Victoria.

GemLife Woodend Sales Manager, Ali Rice, says she’s received a lot of joy and satisfaction at seeing GemLife’s first resort in Victoria come to life.

“Construction at the resort started in June 2018 and I joined in October 2018,” she said. “It was such an exciting project for me because even though I have a property background in Tasmania, the land lease model was very new in Victoria.

“In fact, it is still very new and GemLife has set the standard for lifestyle resorts in this state.”

The resort was developed across five stages and has a community of 245 homes. Introducing land lease lifestyle resorts to a new audience presented Ali with one of her earliest challenges.

“The idea of a fully independent lifestyle resort for active over 50s was something no one had really encountered before, so a lot of education took place,” she said.

“People asked why homes had a step or where the on-call emergency button was, and I told them that we’re not a retirement village – that’s not the GemLife lifestyle!”

With six display homes ready to inspect by December 2018, people were impressed by the quality and very soon the first homeowners, who call themselves ‘the early settlers’, made GemLife Woodend their own.

“And that was before the Country Club was built, so they used to use my sales office as a place to get together,” said Ali.

“They were also inspired by images of the Country Club which was something out of the ordinary for this market. We were awestruck when we saw it all come together – exactly as it appeared in images – in fact, even better.”

In May 2021, the Country Club was officially opened, and its luxury mountain lodge ambience was warmly received.

“Woodend is about 600 metres above sea level, so we can get some pretty wild weather in winter,” said Ali. “The large fireplace in the Country Club is a popular and cosy destination during some months.”

Covid lockdowns also spurred interest from downsizers from Melbourne who wanted an alternative to apartment living while enjoying a friendly community and a relaxed country atmosphere.

One of the things which impresses prospective buyers is the amount of greenspace at GemLife Woodend, including the native black gum forest that runs through the heart of the resort.

“This special forest has been preserved and enhanced by GemLife during the development and now is protected and cared for by our resort manager who tells me that some of the trees are approximately 80-100 years old,” Ali said.

“Victorians are really beginning to understand what an over-50s lifestyle resort is all about. And an established beautiful resort like GemLife Woodend really shows the possibilities for leading an active life in retirement whether it is going travelling or joining some of the homeowners who like to cycle or take part in events such as Run the Rock.”