Developer tees up retirement village
DEVELOPERS have submitted plans for a $115 million retirement village to address a looming shortage of aged care on the Gold Coast.
Retirement village operator Aura hopes to build a six-storey, 233-apartment retirement village called The Arbour at Parkwood International Golf Club, on a corner of the club’s land fronting Napper Rd.
Aura would lease the land from the golf club, and residents would become mandatory club members, paying fees through their body corporate levies.
The golf club had planned to build a 210-room resort on the western side of the Napper Rd site, but have now applied to move it closer to the clubhouse, creating space for the proposed retirement village.
The Arbour site is in a sport and recreation zone with a four-storey height limit, although the resort was previously approved for five storeys.
Height limits at the site are 11.5m, with the resort approval allowing buildings to 17m height. The new proposal would see six buildings at up to 26.5m.
In their application, consultants for the developer said although it did not fit the mostly low-rise homes surrounding it, the retirement village was in line with nearby “pockets of more intense built form” like Southport Sharks, Griffith University and the Gold Coast Hospital.
Buildings along Napper Rd would be kept to five storeys, with trees retained in front of them to soften their appearance.
The village would take up 2.47ha of the club’s 56.49ha site, and would have no impact on the 18-hole course.
Parkwood International managing director Luke Altschwager said the proposal would enhance the master plan of Parkwood Village, which is also home to the Gold Coast Titans headquarters, training pool, gym, medical centres, golf clubhouse, restaurants, function areas, putt-putt, golf simulators and a trampoline centre.
“The retirement village residents will be in walking distance, or if preferred, a short golf buggy ride from all the benefits Parkwood Village offers,” he said.
Aura director Tim Russell said the project would help keep the golf course financially sustainable.
“The lease payments to Parkwood will ensure the ongoing sustainability of the golf course which will be a major attraction to prospective residents of the retirement village and will preserve the golf course outlook enjoyed by the retirement village forever,” he said.
The village will consist of a gatehouse at its own entrance and six separate buildings and is likely to be developed in three stages. The buildings will vary in height between four and six levels and will sit below the existing tree canopy along Napper Rd. More than half the apartments will enjoy golf course views.
Area councillor Dawn Crichlow supports the proposal.
“I think retirement units will go well with a golf course,” she said. “Golf courses aren’t that viable by themselves and this is a way they can be more sustainable.”