Canberra Airport Group, IRT plan aged and childcare facility in Denman Prospect
Rich Lister Terry Snow’s Canberra Airport Group has selected provider IRT Group to develop a $110 million aged care and childcare centre at its Denman Prospect master-planned suburb in Canberra.
The facility, which will include 130 independent living units, 90 care suites and a childcare centre of about 100 places, would be the first such integrated site in Canberra, said Capital Airport Group managing director Stephen Byron.
“When you’re building a community, you don’t only build for the nappy valley, you build for the whole of the demography,” Mr Byron told The Australian Financial Review.
Not-for-profit IRT paid “in excess” of $10 million for the land, he said.
Much of the planning work involved how to come up with a facility that went beyond the traditional single-use format of an aged-care home and would be an asset to the whole community, Mr Byron said.
“Part of it was working out how best to plan it and have it in the suburb near the school, with good access to the township, to the ridge-line park,” he said.
Denman Prospect, a suburb on Canberra’s western edge that will eventually have 4000 dwellings, is the first step into residential development for the owner of Canberra’s airport. So far, 377 blocks have been sold and more than 300 homes have been built and occupied. Every dwelling will have a 3kW solar panel array.
The second stage comprises 150 blocks of land for single dwellings – which have been completed – and will also have 800 units built into blocks of between four and six storeys.
Detailed planning for the aged and childcare facility is expected to commence in the coming months, with development completion anticipated within a four-year timeframe, IRT said.
“Our vision for the precinct is to feature shared communal areas that will enable residents to foster strong social connections with their broader neighbourhood, and encourage interaction across generations,” IRT chief executive Patrick Reid said.
“We are delighted with the opportunity to grow in the Canberra market, especially given the high demand for seniors living and care in the area, including at our IRT Kangara Waters community in Belconnen.”
The centre will involve a public cafe and retail space as well.
Through development arm Capital Estate Developments, Mr Snow is also developing a $300 million, two-building project at Constitution Place in Canberra’s CBD. One building will be a 12-storey mixed-use tower containing a 132-room apartment hotel designed by Bates Smart and operated by TFE Hotels as an Adina Apartment Hotel Grand. The other building will be a five-storey ACT government office building.
Completion is scheduled for 2020.
