Ryman Healthcare planning $200 million Ringwood East retirement village at Daisey’s pub site

It’s been standing since the 1870s, but an iconic suburban pub and nightclub could be demolished to make way for a foreign company’s $200 million development plans.

The Daisey’s Hotel site has been sold to a foreign developer. Picture: Stuart Milligan

A 140-year-old pub could be knocked down for a luxury new retirement village in Ringwood East.

New Zealand’s Ryman Healthcare has bought a 2.2ha site on the corner of Mt Dandenong Rd and Maroondah Highway, next to Ringwood Lake.

The site is home to Castello’s Daisey’s Hote l, built in 1877, and Daisy’s Garden Supplies.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison famously visited the business last month during the federal election campaign where he stacked sand bags and jumped inside a bulldozer.

Ryman plan to build its 10th Victorian village on the site featuring a 120-bed centre with low, medium and high levels of dementia care.

The Daisey’s nightclub has been popular for decades. Picture: Stuart Milligan

It is also likely to have serviced and independent apartments, an indoor swimming pool, movie theatre, cafe, hair and beauty salons and a bowling green.

Ryman plan to name the village after a significant Australian, similar to its Weary Dunlop Village in Wheelers Hill and Nellie Melba Village in Brandon Park.

Senior development manager James Weight said Ryman bought the site last month and did not disclose the cost.

He did not say if the pub or the gardening business were destined for the wrecking ball despite a media release saying Ryman would “combine both”.

Daisy’s Garden Supplies is also on the site recently bought by Ryman Healthcare.

“Our plans to build a retirement village still need to go through the permitting process with the council, and this will include discussions about the merits of the buildings on site,” Mr Weight said.

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“Our next step will be to work on a design that will best complement the site, then hold open days for the community to come in, look at them and give us their feedback directly.

“We’ll take that on board then submit the plans to cthe ouncil for development approval.”

Maroondah Mayor Rob Steane said neither the pub nor the gardening business were protected by a heritage overlay and were privately owned. He said the council was yet to receive any planning applications from Ryman.

Daisy’s Garden Supplies Ringwood owner Evan Mulcahy declined to comment on the plans.

Daisey’s Hotel’s owners, the Castello Group, has been contacted for comment.

It’s not the only popular eastern suburbs drinking hole with an uncertain future. The Leader reported last week Knox’s Seamus O’Toole’s Irish pub could be closed by the end of the week.

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