Mixed Use Assessment a Mixed Bag

Inertia’s Scott Clements attended the recent Property Council of Australia Retirement Living Breakfast: Creating a Community Though Co-location with Ben Heynes from Ethos Urban.

With outstanding keynotes from Alison McDonagh, Regional Developments Manager – Apartments – Stockland and Stewart Scott, Project Director, Development and Construction – Greengate, there was a lot to take in and absorb, especially around how developments are assessed when they contain far more than an aged care facility.

Both speakers talked about how co-located or integrated retirement and aged care developments are. Typically, these developments include both residential aged care and retirement living mixed with various other forms of buildings and event spaces including churches, libraries, cafes, wellness centres, schools and parkland, creating new hubs which integrate with the local community.

Scott Clements outlined his key takeaway “It is clear that residents really like the benefits of the other on-site uses and the sense of community they create, but they need to be planned well to make them viable and to ensure they are part of the long term development of any area. As a result of this we need to look at how we assess such schemes, because in in both Queensland and NSW we haven’t yet caught up with how to assess the mixed use nature of these projects, but rather treat each use singularly and that leads to a fragmented approach to approvals.”

Thanks to Property Council Australia and event partners Minter Ellison for a fantastic event.

Photo Credit – Property Council Australia