Sunshine Coast development: $70m-plus over-50s project gets green light

A new $70m-plus over-50s lifestyle village green-lit for the hinterland is hoped to trigger a wave of investment around Nambour.

A $70m-plus lifestyle village is hoped to trigger a wave of investment in Nambour after being green-lit for construction.

The Grove Lifestyle Highworth was ticked off by Sunshine Coast Council planners who approved the project with conditions on July 30, 2021.

Grove Partners Pty Ltd co-director Andrew Pitcher, who successfully applied for the code-assessible approval, said he was delighted to received approval after about nine months of rigorous design, consultation and changes.

He said they now hoped to start construction by mid-2022 with costings, estimates and detailed design work now set to begin.

The 232-homes plus manager’s residence could be developed in stages, with the process still to be determined.

Mr Pitcher said he expected the over-50s lifestyle project to take about two years to build dependent on staging.

Delays to supplies also had to be accounted for with delays of several months for civil infrastructure including steel, pipes and telecommunications expected.

Mr Pitcher said he’d forecast about a 10-15 per cent increase in price on certain supplies and he tipped the total cost of the project to end up between $70m and $80m.

He said he was happy with the conditions of approval for the code-assessible project.

Mr Pitcher said they aimed to deliver a “mid to high end product” priced appropriately to address a shortfall in the over-50s living market around Nambour.

“Fifty per cent of Nambour’s population will be over 50 in about seven years,” Mr Pitcher said.

“I think there’s going to be more demand.”

The project had received some criticism from a group of locals and a nearby respite home.

Mr Pitcher said he hoped their approval and future project would bring investment confidence to Nambour and trigger other major investors to make moves in the region.