Chevron Island towers: Work to begin soon on Catalyst Health project

Work is to begin within weeks on two 19-storey lifestyle care towers on Chevron Island which have been described as being like “a stationary cruise ship without the germs”.

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TWO lifestyle care towers, believed to be the first such “twins” to be built in Australia, are expected to be under way on Chevron Island within weeks.

The 19-level buildings will be the tallest on the island and are to be built on a $7 million site for Sunsuper real estate investment trust Catalyst Health.

They will be operated by the Gold Coast’s Odyssey Health Group, a tie-up between aged-care veteran Phil Usher and accountancy firm WMS Solutions.

Mr Usher said the approved towers would offer all the services available in a hotel.

“They’ll be like a stationary cruise ship, but without the germs,” he said.

“Residents will have great lifestyles, care and hotel touches such as restaurants and a concierge.”

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An artist’s impression of Odyssey Chevron Island.

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Mr Usher said the residents in neighbouring properties, and Chevron people in general, had been supportive of the Catalyst-Odyessy venture.

He said a demolition team was poised to move on to the Chevron site and a builder was about to be signed.

“There should be real construction activity on the site within two months.”

Odyssey Chevron will rise on a 3036sq m site at 30-36 Mawarra St which also has a frontage to Anembo St.

The deal to buy the site, which settled this week, was negotiated by the Bourke agency’s Brad Merkur.

Seller Barry Quaill amalgamated the six-title holding for $4.05 million during the global financial crisis.

The Odyssey Health Group is in the throes of completing a 147-unit lifestyle care community at Robina.

Odyssey Chevron will have 170 aged and disability-care units, some set up as self-contained apartments with up to three bedrooms.

A number of four-bedroom penthouses each will have a dual-key bedroom and en suite in case live-in carers become necessary.

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CHEVRON Island, an almost exclusively residential suburb surrounded by water, could be about to ‘usher’ in a new form of living.

Moves are afoot to deliver a luxury vertical village for oldies in the form of two up-market towers linked by sky bridges.

The first of the 19-level buildings could be under way in quick time if the proponents get a planning green light in the next few weeks.

The towers will be owned by Sunsuper real estate investment trust Catalyst Health.

The business owner and operator will be the Gold Coast’s Odyssey Health Group, a tie-up between aged-care veteran Phil Usher and accountancy firm WMS Solutions.

Catalyst and Odyssey in 2019 embarked on an up-market $80 million Robina aged-care project involving three buildings of up to eight levels.

Their Chevron project will be a far less lofty venture than previously was earmarked for their twin-tower Chevron site, which spans 3036 sqm at 30-36 Mawarra St and has a frontage to Anembo St.

Odyssey Founder and CEO Phil Usher looking over his company's future. Picture Glenn hampson

The six-title holding, amalgamated by Barry Quaill during the GFC for $4.05 million, was approved in 2017 for a 47-level tower and put on the market the following year.

Chevron’s had its own ‘odyssey’ over the past few years in terms of high-rises.

Several towers taller than the planned Catalyst-Odyssey ones have been approved but none have risen from the ground.

The Catalyst development application was lodged in June 2020, later tweaked slightly, and a council decision is believed to be imminent.

It appears Catalyst is shovel ready to get cracking and already has Hutchinson Builders in tow.

The plan is to build the project, Odyssey Lifestyle Care Communities Chevron Island, in stages, with the eastern one first.

The debut project by the Chevron partners, Odyssey Lifestyle Care Communities Robina, is marching toward a conclusion.

The final building is underway in the 147-title project, which includes a special memory-care facility.

Odyssey Chevron will raise the bar in terms of size, with 170 aged and disability-care units, some set up as self-contained apartments with up to three bedrooms.

There’ll also be a number of four-bedroom penthouses, each with a dual-key bedroom and en suite in case live-in carers become necessary.

The old argument about new towers creating traffic headaches for Chevron residents appears partially to be defused by the Catalyst plan.

The average age of the Odyssey residents is expected to be 84 and it’s expected that many will not have their own motor vehicle or be able to drive.

Hence while there will be 170 units, there’ll be 84 carparks for residents and only one basement will be needed.

The nitty-gritty of what the Chevron towers will offer has yet to be revealed by Odyssey’s Phil, who has topped 20 years in the aged-care game.

A pointer might be that when Catalyst and Odyssey teamed up for the first time at Robina, that project was described as being more like a five-star hotel than a traditional nursing home.