Vertical retirement villages: the way of the future?
Vertical retirement villages: the way of the future?
With a rapidly ageing population and an ongoing housing crisis in Australia, there is increasing demand for greater innovation in retirement living to deliver accommodation and support for seniors, providing a myriad of opportunities for developers in this sector.
Vertical retirement villages are reinvigorating retirement living by providing age-friendly communities in desirable neighbourhoods, with the potential flow-on effect of alleviating pressure on existing housing stock as retirees downsize and sell their family homes.
What is a vertical retirement living?
Vertical retirement living abandons the traditional model of a sprawling retirement village located on the urban fringe. Instead, they focus on constructing modern multi-story facilities that typically require less land and can be built in popular neighbourhoods.
The convenient locations of vertical retirement villages mean residents can enjoy greater independence while still experiencing a sense of community and security, which is proving to be appealing to today’s retirees. These developments can be beautifully designed to blend seamlessly into their environment too.
Will communities accept vertical retirement villages?
According to the Property Council of Australia, there are 249,000 residents in 2,500 retirement communities across the country, who are reportedly 15 per cent more physically active and five times more socially active than community members of a similar age living in other circumstances. Given the number of Australians over the age of 75 is set to grow by 70 per cent by 2040 providing growing demand, combined with strong sales rates, there is every indication of wide community acceptance and opportunity for vertical retirement developments.
At Development Directive, we know from experience that vertical retirement projects can be successfully integrated on large, appropriately located sites within the suburbs, where those sites are close to community infrastructure and off site impacts can be appropriately managed on site.
With the Aveo Carindale retirement living facility, for example, we helped deliver a vertical retirement village in one of Brisbane’s most popular postcodes in the eastern suburbs through a ground-up redesign.
Aveo Retirement Homes engaged Development Directive to provide planning and titling advices regarding a proposed 8-stage development which included a Retirement Village and Residential Aged Care Facility. This process included a redistribution of buildings across the site to improve the functionality of open space at the ground plane. The re-design also focused on the design and orientation of the independent living units within each building, to improve outlook and privacy and to bring the older approved design up to current market requirements. As a result, the development was able to increase the overall GFA of the development without a loss of apartment yield.
With the construction of Stage 3 recently completed, Development Directive is glad to see the project fit seamlessly into the suburb’s surrounding architecture while being conveniently located adjacent to public transport, shops and amenities.
How Development Directive can help
Development Directive understands the challenges and opportunities of the retirement sector property development. A shortage of stock has seen strong demand for redeveloping underutilized retirement sites, which requires extensive insight into market demand, feasibility and zoning regulations.
Contact Development Directive today for help with starting your retirement development project.