How GemLife CEO Adrian Puljich transformed his family business idea into a $1.9bn empire
GemLife boss Adrian Puljich, who turned his migrant family’s over-50s resort business into a $1.9bn listed behemoth, warns Australia is “failing” its seniors amid a growing housing crisis.
To top boss Adrian Puljich, who transformed his migrant family’s over-50s resort business into a$1.9bn listed empire, Australia is “failing the people that built this country”.
The GemLife CEO says the country is facing a “housing crisis” that hits not only first-home buyers but also older Australians looking to downsize, as the nation’s population ages rapidly.
“That is a very daunting and somewhat horrific set of circumstances that we’ve essentially failed the people that have built this country,” he says. “We can’t provision for them in aged care beds. We can’t provision for them in retirement villages.
“These are the same people that built our cities post-WWII and post-Vietnam War. These are people that made sacrifices and still do to this day to help kids get on the property ladder, to pay for their tuition.
“And we simply don’t have enough accommodation in the seniors’ living space to house them, to allow them to age with dignity.”
Puljich, who founded GemLife in 2015, says land lease communities are the answer to Australia’s housing crisis, with the company expected to grow from a $266.3m turnover in 2024 to $313.7m in FY26.
“We need to get the boomers out of their homes in these established suburbs,” he says. “There is no need for them to live in four- or five-bedroom homes.
“We need to demonstrate to them that these communities that we’re providing will more than satisfy – it makes more than just social and financial sense.
“This is about longevity, wellbeing, health and wellness. Both federal and state governments need to do more.”
Born and raised on the Gold Coast to Croatian refugee parents, Puljich spectacularly transformed the original family business idea into a listed behemoth.
It all began in 1982 when his father, Peter – a plasterer – spotted a gap in the over-50s housing market. The original business, Living Gems, remained a mum-and-dad operation developing five communities from the mid-80s to 2010.
After studying law, Puljich joined the company in 2010 – and that’s when things really took off. In just five years, Living Gems expanded from five to 11 communities and doubled its workforce.
“We took the business essentially to a corporate size,” he says. His mum then tragically passed away in 2013, which he says changed his dad’s approach to risk and business decisions.
“Dad said, ‘Look, I’ve got different views and different ideas on how I wish to grow.’ He said, ‘If you want to keep growing, I’m happy to support you, go out and find yourself a capital partner’ – which is what I did,” he says. In late 2015, Puljich founded GemLife as a joint venture with financial partner Thakral Capital.
His brother remains the CEO of Living Gems, which operates as a separate business. Between September 2017 and June this year, GemLife has amassed a portfolio of 32 communities, with just under 10,000 sites across Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia.
In July the company was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, with its initial share price jumping by 5.8 per cent to more than $1.68bn in what was one of the biggest listings this year.
Puljich’s personal fortune soared $20m in those 15 minutes with the Puljich family’s holdings of 100.2 million shares, held under company PVAP, worth around $442.9m. As of mid-November the company was worth over $1.9bn.
Working in a family business is, of course, rewarding, but it also carries a “big burden of expectation”, he says.
“Obviously, being family and working with family, because you’re so similar, you’re going to have different ideas and you’re going to clash,” he says.
“And I think it’s made me more battle-hardened with respect to problem solving.
“My father did an exceptional job in understanding the market and providing quality homes, oversized homes and oversized facilities to the downsizing market, something that was missing in our sector. Dad’s hands-on approach, dad’s honesty and loyalty to the homeowners was something that really left an impression on me. It’s something that I still carry to this day.”
He says the demographics of people wanting to move into land lease communities was becoming younger and younger.
“We’re definitely starting to see that age bracket drop. We’re seeing these downsizers being somewhat retired, fully retired, people still wanting to keep their minds active and keep their bodies moving,” he says.
“They’re getting the best of both worlds, moving into a lifestyle community but also still being fully engaged within the workforce, a by-product of our ageing population and people needing to work longer.
“You can have a busy life with grandkids and kids and work colleagues and a work-life balance and then come back into the community and play cards that night or go to the bowls.”
For the over-50s, it’s all about value, quality and trust, he says.
“These people are now prioritising themselves. They’re prioritising their health and wellness. They’re proudly independent, fiercely in some instances,” he says. “We run what we call the GemLife Games – we run table tennis tournaments, bowls, golf simulator tournaments, pickleball, billiards, dancing competitions – over three days where we bring different communities together.
“It’s just unbelievable to see how impactful that event is to our homeowners who are essentially dotted around Australia, watching them come together and forge new friendships.
“There’s this view that it’s the doorway to heaven. It’s like a retirement village, aged care facility where you come in to slowly pass away. It’s the antithesis of that.
“These are vibrant communities that encourage you to remain healthy and active in mind, body and spirit.”
While he admits the industry is getting more competitive, Puljich insists he doesn’t see any listed or unlisted rivals as real competition.
“The reason being is that the cohort, the baby boomer cohort that’s coming through, has 20 to 25 years of year-on-year growth,” he says.
“When you look at the size and the demographics coming through and you look at the operator pool, there’s not nearly enough of us there that are able to service that downsizing market.
“We have a housing crisis and we as land lease communities’ operators or seniors’ living providers are not immune to that. We also have land shortage issues, delivery issues but we have a cohort here that we just can’t satisfy.
“That’s how big it is,’’ he says.
Looking ahead, Puljich says GemLife will stay an organic, founder-led developer, builder, and operator of land lease communities. “For us, it’s about continuing to find greenfield opportunities, whether it be sea change or tree change locations, we’re agnostic as to where we go,” he says.
“We see tremendous tailwinds for our sector moving forward and because we are vertically integrated as a business, we are able to build, sell and manage our own products. That gives us that competitive edge over our listed and unlisted peers.”
So what does Puljich look for when he’s hiring the staff around him?
Compassion.
“At the end of the day, this is a people-first business. It requires patience. It requires understanding,” he says.
“And when you’re in a business like GemLife that is high pressure, you must never lose sight that at the end of the day you’re providing a quality product to a downsizing market that treats these homes as probably one of their last.”
He says he also doesn’t want “passengers” in his business.
“I want people that are willing to lead and set the tone, whether it be marketing initiatives, inclusion lists, resort layouts or whether we should consider different ways to build a home,” he says.
As for the great working-from-home debate, Puljich says he’s not fussed either way.
“I think in the future, work from home will become the norm. And as long as people are honest and performing their duties, I see no reason why it won’t feature,” he says.
“There are different pressures in a family home now, people are working double hours … we need to be able to accommodate so people can have a healthy balance.
“I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all with working from home. And to retain good staff, you need to remain flexible.”
His top advice for school leavers is to find your passion and stick with it.
“There’s this heavy emphasis on, you must do well at school to get the good results to go and do the best degrees at university and I just think that is such a poor education journey,” he says.
“Find your passion and don’t be guilted into feeling like it’s an inferior profession.
“If you like what you do, the money will flow. You should never make decisions where money is a priority.”
Like most top CEOs, Puljich’s day starts eyewateringly early, at 4am. He gets to the gym and then it’s home to spend sometime with the kids to get them ready for school, before setting off for the day.
At the end of the day, he’s home by 7pm to spend time with wife Jessica and their three children – a six-year-old boy, a four-year-old girl and an 11-month-old girl.
“My days usually consist of working on the business rather than in the business,” he says.
“I’m not a helicopter boss where I’m continuously trying to impose myself on my senior management team.
“As we’ve scaled and as we’ve grown, I recognise that there are so many minutes in a day and my minutes are better directedat opportunities that are to the benefit of the whole of business.”
