Seniors Housing & Healthcare Trends

LOS ANGELES: A developer is tapping onto the growing wellness obsession being pursued by all generations.

Exclusive SAINT clubs will target sports stars and professionals.

Rich Lister Tim Gurner had always been interested in health and wellness, but that turned into an ‘‘obsession’’ when his father died from blood cancer when Gurner was only 20.

Just six weeks after starting his first business, buying a gym in the Melbourne beachside suburb of Elwood with the help of a $150,000 bank loan and some cash from his grandfather, Gurner’s dad died of myeloma. It crystallised Gurner’s desire to invest in his health.

‘‘I have been terrified of dying, and I do everything in my power to make sure I don’t get sick,’’ Gurner said.

‘‘It was a big kick for me. My dad was a very, very healthy, fit guy and something just didn’t work. He went through bone marrow transplants and horrendous stuff.

‘‘So this is about how I can make a difference for myself and others.’’

Gurner, who has made his $989 million fortune primarily through property development, is behind the exclusive Saint Haven club, which gives members access to everything from hyperbaric oxygen chambers, IV drips and a private chef, as well as networking spaces. Saint Haven’s head of reverse ageing and longevity was investigated by the Victorian Health Complaints Commissioner this year, but that related to conduct at a previous practice.

With three sites now across Melbourne in Collingwood, South Yarra and Toorak, Gurner’s next move is to extend the concept to a younger demographic of elite sports stars, entrepreneurs and professionals who want a club with a focus on high performance and health, but with a lower price point, a higher energy environment and more socialising.

Branded SAINT, Gurner’s first club will open in St Kilda in September and will be targeted at 25- to 50-year-olds. It already has a second site confirmed, and Gurner plans to open 10 SAINT clubs by the end of 2026.

Gurner says the expansion into SAINT was inspired by conversations he had with young athletes, including AFL players Nick and Josh Daicos.

‘‘They said: ‘We understand Saint Haven, but how do we do this in a way that has a more social focus, where we can be there all day, and it is a high-octane, high-energy version?’’’ he says.

‘‘They want pumping music and hip-hop yoga.

‘‘They want to come here and do a fire and ice session [a wellness practice that combines infrared saunas and ice baths], have a natural euphoric experience, and then have a 100 per cent agave tequila shot.’’

Unlike Saint Haven, SAINT will have a limited range of alcohol available on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, as well as plant-based ‘‘mood enhancers’’, such as kava.

The clubs have been designed with a black-and-white theme, representing the ‘‘sinner and saint’’ concept and will be split into two levels.

The white area is a calming environment with a co-working space, fitness area, recovery zone, IV infusions, hyperbaric oxygen chambers, red light therapy, and ‘‘fire and ice’’ zone, as well as a wholefoods bar.

The black level comes with hip-hop yoga, R&B Pilates, a boxing and mixed martial arts studio, another co-working space and sound healing.

It will also have meditation and breathwork sessions, but these will focus on ‘‘upping’’ rather than calming a person.

‘‘We want people leaving Saint Haven feeling grounded and at peace, whereas at SAINT we want them to feel exhilarated and excited,’’ Gurner says.

Priced at $89 per week, the cost is about half that of the bottom-tier Saint Haven membership, which Gurner says will enable it to grow more quickly.

The expansion has prompted Gurner Group to double its revenue target from its wellness portfolio from $150 million to $300 million in the next five to seven years.

Ultimately Gurner wants his company to become a lifestyle brand, encompassing housing developments, his clubs, hotels, restaurants and cafes.

‘‘We want to be the leading wellness brand in the world. We have had approaches from Europe and America… the expansion opportunity is huge,’’ he says.

‘‘I think the wellness business will slowly catch up with the property business. Property doesn’t need to get much bigger.’’

When Saint Haven opened, Gurner signed up to its anti-ageing biohacking package, which resulted in him taking 50 to 60 supplements per day, following a tailor-made meal plan and having hundreds of blood tests.

Through this, Gurner learnt he had low testosterone and his biological age was in line with his actual age of 41 (at the time).

Through diet and supplements, his testosterone is now towards the top of the normal range and his biological age is down by almost nine years.

His diet is a strict regimen of exactly 2700 calories per day, made up of 40 per cent carbs, 40 per cent protein and 20 per cent fat.

‘‘I’m very particular about what I put in my body … I still take 35 supplements per day, and occasionally I’ll do IV infusions,’’ he says.

‘‘I’m lifting heavier weights than I did when I was 20, in my prime, by 30 per cent. It’s not a small change.’’