From In Daily
New 'retirement living' tower for CBD
An 18-storey tower with 154 “affordable retirement living” apartments in the CBD’s east will be considered for approval tomorrow.
An artist's rendition of the proposed development. Image: Cheesman Architects
The State Commission Assessment Panel (SCAP) will on Wednesday decide whether to grant developers Angus & Gunson Pty Ltd planning consent for a 62.9-metre-tall mixed-use building at 154 Angas Street/20 Gunson Street.
The 18-level apartment block, located near the 13-storey Calvary Hospital, would offer 154 residential apartments along with ground-floor commercial and office tenancies.
Levels 1-3 would be reserved for car parking while levels 4-17 would be apartments.
If approved, it will operate as a Best Life Communities development reserved for people over the age of 50 who are “seeking an affordable retirement living alternative to a Retirement Village”.
Planning consultant Nitsan Taylor has recommended the SCAP approve the project.
But she noted the proposal “exceeds the maximum building height of 53 metres generally sought by the zone” where the building is slated for construction.
“It is considered that the building design displays sufficient merit to warrant the height exceedance,” Taylor wrote in her report to the SCAP.
“It is also noted that the proposed development will provide a high degree of amenity for residents in the form of generous balconies and terraces and a communal terrace area and will contribute positively to the streetscape by locating street-activating uses along both frontages.
“Having regard for the above matters, it is considered that the proposed development displays sufficient merit and consistency with the Planning and Design Code to warrant the granting of planning consent.”
The majority of the building’s 154 apartments will feature two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a study nook and full laundry.
The building is intended to operate as a Land Lease Community where residents purchase their home outright but rent the land it is located on, avoiding stamp duty.
The rent is paid through a regular site fee – estimated to be between $160 and $200 a week – encompassing things such as council and water rates along with maintenance costs.
“The applicant has advised that the proposed building will be operated as a Best Life Communities development, which is a ‘lifestyle community’ aimed at people over the age of 50 who are seeking an affordable retirement living alternative to a Retirement Village,” Taylor wrote.
“The combination of the Best Life and Land Lease Community models is intended to provide an opportunity for the over 50s cohort to access ‘affordable housing’, albeit not as part of the Affordable Housing process defined by South Australian Housing Authority (SAHA).
“The SAHA affordable housing scheme is primarily focused on assisting lower income first home buyers to enter the property market, whereas the proposed scheme is intended to assist lower income retirees to downsize.”
Taylor said while the affordable housing intention of the development is “commendable and supported in principle”, it remains “unclear how the proposed development will be managed and retained for affordable housing for the over 50s cohort in perpetuity”.
“The application does not suggest a mechanism to prevent the building from being sold as a standard apartment building rather than retained as a Best Life Community development,” she wrote.
The developer is proposing that residents will be free to sell their apartments “whenever they want”, although only to an “eligible purchaser over 50 years of age”.
Acting Government Architect Belinda Chan submitted to the SCAP on March 29 that she “remains concerned by a number of aspects of the development”, including the visual impact of its “long east elevation” and the “visual quality of the precast concrete walls and their finish”.
“In regard to the building height, I acknowledge that developments of a comparable scale exist and have been approved in the locality,” she wrote.
“Notwithstanding this, my support for developments of this scale is contingent on a proposal providing a generous contribution to the public realm, being of a high quality from an architectural expression, materiality and residential amenity perspective, and achieving best practice sustainability outcomes.
“In my view, this has not been adequately demonstrated, particularly in relation to above ground car parking, architectural expression and materiality.”
Development consultants MasterPlan, on behalf of Angus & Gunson Pty Ltd, submitted to the SCAP that the apartment block was needed due to housing affordability issues for people around retirement age.
“Many persons either approaching or having reached retirement age cannot afford to enter a quality retirement village, or are deterred by costly exit or deferred management fees on top of monthly contributions,” Masterplan wrote.
“In the CBD, the challenge of owning a retirement home is even more acute, due to land and construction cost.”
https://indaily.com.au/news/local/2022/ ... r-for-cbd/
