Developer Remixes Plans for Vertical Retirement Village

Sydney-based developer Traders in Purple is extending its portfolio of retirement villages with plans for three apartment buildings across a sprawling creek-side site in north-west Brisbane.

The proposed development, at 1A Northmore Street in Mitchelton, would be built on a 7500sq m parcel of land at the end of a cul de sac hugging a creek, Kedron Brook, and would be within walking distance of Brookside Shopping Centre.

Brett Lentz, who heads Traders in Purple’s Queensland operations, told The Urban Developer the team had built on a previously awarded application approval with a greater focus on placemaking and architecture.

“In 2016, we were looking at potential areas within Brisbane’s middle ring suburbs which provided for medium-density apartment opportunities,” Lentz said.

“We wanted a location with great lifestyle attributes that had easy access to local and sub-regional services and facilities—all within 15 to 20 minutes of the CBD—and this site in Mitchelton held all these key attributes.”

Combined, the three buildings, which range from seven to 10 storeys, will offer 35,000sq m of residential floor space to retirees and will sit above two basement levels of car parking for 400 vehicles.

The proposed residential village, known as Wilshire Village, will be delivered over two stages and will offer more than 200 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.

It will feature an auxiliary 200sq m community centre, 200sq m outdoor plaza and 130sq m recreation hall to be run by community services provider Burnie Brae, who will deliver a range of wellbeing and community-based activities and care programs.

The development has been mooted since 2018 when a stage one development application designed by Arkhefield was approved.

Traders in Purple enlisted Rothelowman to redesign the apartment project which, according to Lentz, will be its point of difference in Brisbane—designed to the gold standard under the Australian design guidelines.

The new application remixed some of the principles of the existing approval but with a greater emphasis on the “green views” and connection to the Kedron Brook with 85 per cent of the apartments now having views to neighbouring parklands.

“The site’s greatest attribute is its green outlook to the Kedron Brook on its northern, eastern and southern boundaries—a natural green corridor that we wanted residents to enjoy both actively and passively,” Lentz said.

“Our vision from the beginning was to create a strong community and village atmosphere which can be shared by the residents as well as provide benefits to wider community.

“The product mix is now for good sized two- and three-bedroom apartments, which we expect will be attractive to the local and wider downsizer market.”

During the past three decades, the private developer, led by chief executive Brett Robinson, has delivered more than $1 billion worth of new dwellings in regional NSW and Queensland, specifically the Illawarra region and Moreton Bay Peninsula.

Late last year another Rothelowman-designed project the developer is undertaking, in the waterside suburb of Newport, was given the green light.

The $120-million Lasail project, comprising 115 apartments in two six-storey buildings as well as 11 two-storey townhouses, is currently being built on a 11,500sq m waterside site in Aqua Street.

In NSW, work has started on the first stage of 11.3ha, $300-million masterplan of the old Kingston High School site comprising 80 homes and 10,000sq m of commercial office space.

The developer has also been appointed by the NSW government to deliver 400 dwellings as part of a $200-million project in the emerging Western Sydney Aerotropolis.