Housing News

Plan to turn former Pallarenda aged care facility into affordable housing scrapped

Jul 03 2023 Updated October 18, 2023

Team Editor

1 min read

Plans to convert a former aged care facility in Pallarenda, which is 8km northwest of central Townsville and 1,300km northwest of Brisbane, have been abandoned, after experts said the site is not suitable for housing due to the costs of repair and refurbishment.

Amid a housing shortage, the Queensland Government and Townsville City Council were considering converting the vacant site to affordable housing, the ABC has reported.

Blue Care Pallarenda Garden Settlement Aged Care Facility closed in 2016 after its Not For Profit owner, UnitingCare Queensland, opened a facility in nearby Mount Louisa.

The Queensland Government owns the land, but the site is held in a Deed of Grant in Trust, which limits its uses, including to a “home for the aged and infirm”.

The SOURCE: Converting commercial buildings, such as aged care homes, to housing is complex and costly, sometimes prohibitively so.

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