Revealed: New plans for mega Kangaroo Point health, housing project

One of Australia’s biggest church aged care and health providers has unveiled new designs for a giant masterplanned project at Kangaroo Point. It says the 20-year vision will not only transform the city skyline, but allow it to keep caring for the elderly.

Kangaroo Point locals have four weeks to have their say on new designs for one of the biggest urban renewal projects ever proposed for the suburb.

St Vincents Care Services, one of the country’s most experienced church-backed aged care and health providers, is pressing ahead with a bid to gain approval for a 20-year masterplan for it’s Mt Olivet private hospital site.

Generations of elderly people have lived at the facility, which has sweeping river views from its clifftop perch.

But St Vincents said that after six decades on the site it needed major upgrades and a redevelopment would help fund its expensive services.

St Vincents has told Council fine details of buildings would be worked out along the way.

The State Government Architect, the State Assessment and Referral Agency and Council officers presented St Vincent’s planners, Gaskell Planning Consultants, a shopping list of concerns when the masterplan was first lodged last year.

They cited concerns about impacts on river views and heritage-listed naval stores, the former Travelodge and St Mary’s Anglican Church, as well as impacts on public access to the riverwalk and possible destabilisation of the landmark cliffs.

Gaskell said in documents published late last week that it had redesigned the development so it was set further back from the cliff edge, did not block views and allowed “generous’’ gaps between bigger buildings.

How the redevelopment could look from the Story Bridge, heading south.

But it said it was unreasonable to ask, upfront, for the finer details of a development that would be built gradually, in six stages, over two decades.

Gaskell also said it was unreasonable to restrict development to the 2020 Kangaroo Point Neighbourhood Plan’s lower, 10-storey height limits for the area when nearby developers had submitted plans for much taller buildings under pre-2020 versions of City Plan.

St Vincents said it had been very open about its plans, letterboxing 3600 households in the Kangaroo Point area and adjoining suburbs.

It also walked local Councillor Jonathan Sriranganathan and local state MP Amy MacMahon through the site.

“We’ve had a presence on the Kangaroo Point site for more than 60 years, providing health and aged care services,’’ St Vincents Care Services CEO Lincoln Hopper said.

“In addition to the general public benefit we provide via both facilities, we run one of southeast Queensland’s largest in-community, public palliative care services out of our Kangaroo Point hospital, in partnership with Queensland Health.

Render of how part of the site could look.

“The plans we’ve presented to Council are a 20-year vision for the site.

“It’s what a possible new health and aged care campus, with a range of accommodation types designed to cater for our ageing population, might look like two decades from now.

“The changes we’re considering at Kangaroo Point will be gradual and will take place over decades.

“We don’t expect construction to begin for years to come.

“And when construction begins, it will take place in a staged way.

“That means, as new facilities are created they’ll allow for the relocation of current services.’’

Mr Hopper said the preliminary approval development application was therefore not detailed.

St Vincents was however asking Council to lock in what it would be allowed to do so it had certainty moving forward.

“In order to imagine what our future might look like 20 years from now we need to know from Council what the limits are in terms of building heights, density, parking, green space and public access to the river,’’ Mr Hopper said.

Street level view of part of the redevelopment.

“With each new building we intend to construct in the future, we’ll return to Council with a more detailed development application for community input.

“Our buildings on the site – St Vincent’s Private Hospital Brisbane and St Vincent’s Care Services Kangaroo Point – were constructed in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

“They’re not up to the task of meeting the community’s future health and aged care needs.’’

Mr Sriranganathan said he remained concerned about the scale of the proposal and its impact on traffic on Main St and the Story Bridge.

He also queried why so much residential highrise was being proposed, saying it should at least include affordable housing.

And he said green space needed ot be given to the community if so much high-density was approved.

Jonathan Sriranganathan and Amy McMahon. Picture: Richard Walker

“Generally speaking, there can be some good arguments for co-locating housing and hospital land uses, but the hospital is claiming that their proposal is ‘in keeping with Council’s planning regulations’ which isn’t strictly correct,’’ he said.

“This site has long been identified and zoned as being for community facilities.

“High-density private housing is not ordinarily permitted on community facilities land.

“The current development application is preliminary approval, which locks in building heights and footprints without any detail of how the buildings will be used or designed.’’

So far, there has been only one objection lodged.

“My late husband passed away in St Vincent’s palliative care hospital,’’ the anonymous objector wrote in their submission to Council.

“It gave him pleasure to be able to view the river and city from his bed during his last days of life. Why should patients be denied this?’’

Gaskell said in the development application (DA) that a proposed hotel would accommodate hospital visitors, while the retail component would be small and service on-site residents and visitors.

St Vincents Care Services CEO Lincoln Hopper. Picture: Lachie Millard

The office space would be for health-related businesses.

The masterplan included five mixed-use towers of up to 18 storeys in what was billed as an “integrated wellness community”.

The residential precinct would consist of three towers, with heights of 14 storeys, 15 storeys and 18 storeys, facing the Brisbane River.

The tallest tower would house “retirement living, residential aged care or similar”.

A health and education precinct, facing Main St, would consist of a “residential aged care and healthcare tower with health, wellness, administrative and allied tenancies in lower levels” and a shorter “health, wellness and education building” with “flexibility... (for) additional mixed residential uses”.

More details, and to lodge submissions, visit Council online DA portal developmenti. Search for application A005844698