5-star retirees' village planned

An $80 million, five-star retirement village development has been granted resource consent for land at Remarkables Park.

International retirement village company Sanctuary Residences has been given the go-ahead for its 130-apartment, six-storey village, complete with a pool, gymnasium, restaurant, library and bowling green.

It will be the resort town's first.

Sanctuary Residences chief executive Richard Davis said last night the consent was great news and the company hoped to get construction under way and open as soon as possible.

The village would be built in stages and the flat, sunny Remarkables Park site was perfectly suited, close to medical and shopping amenities with great views.

"There is a need. When we looked at what's happening in Queenstown the only age-group population that is reducing is the over-70s because there's nowhere to live, so they leave," Mr Davis said.

The company's research also showed there were a lot of older people wanting to retire to Queenstown.

Prices for the apartments, which would be interlinked and under cover to ensure warmth during winter, would be "in keeping with the high end of the market in and around Queenstown".

The apartments, one-bedroom through to three-bedroom, would probably range between $500,000 and $900,000.

Residents would buy a licence to occupy.

Sanctuary Residences operated a retirement village on Waiheke Island and three villages in London. It had a fully consented site in Remuera, in Auckland, two further London sites consented and two sites for development in Australia.

Mr Davis said Remarkables Park had already begun work on putting in the infrastructure necessary for the development.

Statistics New Zealand's Subnational Population Projections report released last month projects Queenstown Lakes will have the fastest growth rate in the country. The district's 65-years-plus population is expected to more than treble in the 25 years from 2006 to 2031, the report says.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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Jane Hanan   #1   04:34 am Apr 28 2010

Queenstown information

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