Community
12 May, 2024
$30m senior living centre
A $30 million retirement village at Mossman has been approved and is expected to give an economic boost to the beleaguered sugar town hard hit by December’s floods and pending mill closure.
Construction of Cooloola Waters is due to start between July and September and involves 57 single-storey units, a gymnasium, a multi-function hall, a communal kitchen, a swimming pool and a hobby shed.
It is on council-owned land with a freehold land tenure at 47 Johnston Rd, adjacent to the Mossman District Hospital and the Salvation Army’s aged care facility.
Cooloola Waters also has a Tin Can Bay retirement village with 87 units plus extra stages planned.
Cooloola Waters managing director Gary Simonite said it would be built by their building division, depending on the availability of materials and labour.
He said there would be up to 35 jobs during construction and it would be operated by a village manager, a maintenance person and a groundsman after completion.
Mr Simonite said already there had been four expressions of interest for the villas which had three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a single garage, covering 126sqm. The cost of each villa was estimated between $420,000 and $460,000.
The proposal also includes a two-storey building containing a gymnasium, multi-function hall, a communal kitchen and offices on the ground floor with two four-bedroom units above, a covered pool and change rooms, 22 on-street communal parking spaces, an earth bund adjacent to Marrs Creek and the layout provides for a future connection to Jack St.
It is expected to be done in four to five stages and be completed in 18 months at the earliest.
Cooloola Waters won the tender for the land after nearly five months of presentations and negotiations with the Douglas Shire Council in October, 2022 and “after a hard fought battle with local RV operators to develop and construct this proposed new state-of-the art retirement village”.
The material change of use application was unanimously approved by the council last week.
Cr Michael Rees told the meeting that it would “address a big need for retirement living and is another example of a developer working with the council and working with the council planning scheme.”
Mayor Lisa Scomazzon said she expected construction would start soon.
It is the second retirement village at Mossman. The other is Good Shepherd Retirement Village.
