Old nursing home, Mercy Place at Woree, sold to developer consortium
A significant parcel of land attached to the old Mercy Place aged care facility has now changed hands and a rough plan for the site has been revealed.
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A significant parcel of land attached to the old Mercy Place aged care facility has now changed hands and a rough plan for the site has been revealed.
Mercy Health closed down the 43-bed nursing home on Toogood Rd in 2021 after the facility was no longer deemed fit for purpose.
In 2022, the land and aged care buildings were spruiked as offering an “unprecedented development” potential after hitting the market listed with CBRE.
Sold stickers have now been placed over the for sale sign.
Allaying concerns the 2.6ha land parcel would be snapped up by the state government for a social housing development, CBRE Cairns managing director Danny Betros said the property had sold to a consortium of local and southern developers.
“It’s got through street access so local and southern developers are going to chop up the land for housing,” he said.
“The government was going to buy it and went a long way down that road and then they bought the drive-in site.
“The buildings themselves I’m not sure what they are going to do.
“The fate of the current building is unknown. There is a lot of money to be spent to modify it, it’s a huge building.”
Before the sale, the land was estimated to be worth $4m and the nursing home buildings $2m.
In 2021, Melbourne-based executives from Mercy Health landed in Cairns to facilitate the shutdown of Mercy Place in Woree which meant 40 elderly residents were forced to find new accommodation.
The buildings have been empty ever since.
Division 3 councillor Cathy Zeiger said she had been in contact with a local agent acting on behalf of the new buyers to discuss the plans for the site.
“People are worried about putting up a big multi-storey housing development and he said, ‘I don’t think you have any concerns there’,” Ms Zeiger said.
“It’s not zoned for residential so they have to apply to have it rezoned then they have to put a development application in and I have asked the council officers to alert me the moment that happens.”
Due to a long settlement not expected to go through until the beginning of next year, the name of the entity is not available on property records.
Since the sale, property sources have indicated to the Cairns Post the old nursing home complex could be demolished.
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Originally published as Old nursing home, Mercy Place at Woree, sold to developer consortium
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