Gold Coast development: Giant two-tower retirement village unveiled

A $120 million two tower vertical retirement village will be built on one of the Gold Coast’s most famous “bomb sites” after years of questions.

A $120 million two tower vertical retirement village will be built on the old Gold Coast Hospital site.

An application has been submitted by experienced healthcare provider Bolton Clarke for the development, which will be made up of towers ranging from 19 storeys to 25 storeys.

It will form the most eastern section of the $550 million Queen Street Village project.

An artist’S impression of a retirement village planned for old Gold Coast Hospital site as part of the Queen Street Village development in Southport. Picture: Supplied.

“With 20 per cent of residents in the region aged 65 and over and growth in the Northern Gold Coast region, we are addressing a potential under-supply of independent and assisted living spaces,” Bolton Clarke Group chief executive Stephen Muggleton said in a statement on the company’s website.

“Being part of this new intergenerational development will allow us to provide new options for retirees supporting lifestyle preferences with access to a multitude of services at their doorstep.”

The project will have two towers. Picture: Supplied.

According to documents lodged with council, the 258-unit project will include:

• 1140 sqm of ground-level retail space.

• A 72-bed residential aged care facility.

• 40 x single-bedroom assisted living units.

• 146 two and three bedroom independent living units.

• The shared eighth level will have 850 sqm of internal and 1430 sqm of outdoors recreation space, including a pool and a 200m skywalk around the perimeter of the area

• The taller tower’s 25th level will have a 435 sqm club for residents and an outdoor terrace.

A new development application has been filed. Picture: Supplied.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE BULLETIN FOR $1 A WEEK FOR THE FIRST 8 WEEKS. (MIN. COST $4)

“Bolton Clarke’s Queen Street Village project has been designed to facilitate lifestyle choices that encourage resident participation as a means of combating social isolation and the associated comorbidities that ensue from such,” a report to council said.

“Resident participation is facilitated by health and wellbeing practitioners which operate across those floors connected by the linkways and which will accommodate those residents with less physical capacity and/or some degree of cognitive decline.”

There will be 258 units in the retirement tower. Picture: Supplied.

Brisbane-based developer Property Solutions received final approval from the Gold Coast City Council for the development in March last year.

The site will ultimately feature seven towers ranging from 16-25 storeys, a shopping centre and cinema.

Among the features planned for the site is a four-star hotel tower from Mercure.

Work is yet to begin on the site. Picture: Supplied.

It was announced in May 2018 with an opening date of 2019 but work is yet to begin on the development.

Among its features were 160 rooms, conference facilities, a restaurant and bar and a rooftop bar which will overlook Southport with views to the Broadwater.

The old Gold Coast Hospital was closed in September 2013 and was demolished between late 2014 and early 2015.

The site has since sat vacant.