Retirement provider IRT pivots to general housing after council rejections
After three rejections, IRT is pursuing a $208 million pivot to general affordable housing.
IRT, the Illawarra Retirement Trust, has shelved its aged-care vision for the Towradgi Beach site after Wollongong City Council rejected its proposals three times over flooding, height, privacy and tree concerns.
The company is now pursuing a state Major Projects approval to develop the site as general affordable housing: 56 apartments and 97 townhouses across two properties. The new plan, estimated at $208 million, makes no mention of seniors or retirement living.
The units are marked affordable at 16 and 15 per cent respectively, just enough to trigger the height and floor space bonuses under NSW planning laws. The previous proposal included 87 independent living units specifically for seniors.
IRT chief executive Ross Gallagher said after March's rejection that the site was "challenging" and the company would pursue a "new generation of developments". Current residents' arrangements under the new plan remain unclear.
- $208 million
- Development cost
- 56 apartments and 97 townhouses
- Total dwellings
- 87 independent living units for seniors
- Previous plan
Why it mattersA major property company is abandoning its stated purpose, aged-care housing, to squeeze through planning approval rules, signalling how hard it has become to build retirement housing in Australian councils.
AustraliaSeniors housing in coastal NSW regions is getting harder to build, while aged-care providers hunt for alternative strategies to develop their land.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
Open this story in InSnip →
