Developer Adam Slijderink, who no longer has use of his right arm or shoulder after breaking his neck and suffering severe spinal damage in a car crash, is behind PGS Invest’s plan to build a retirement village at Goodna, around 40km west of Brisbane, QLD.

Pending approval, the PGS CEO will build the Abadi Gaia Adult Residential Village, which he claims will be the first of its kind in Australia.

The development plans lodged with Ipswich City Council in July 2021 want to build 189 independent living units, an aged care and dementia facility with another 81 beds, and 14 special disability accommodation units.

He told Queensland Times the facility will fill a large hole in the market by providing a range of specialist support to residents in an inclusive environmentally-friendly resort setting.

“Everyone says ‘Adam, don’t do a retirement community with dementia or aged care because other people don’t want to know about it’,” said Adam, pictured with son Paul, a director of PGS.

“This is where people misunderstood the market – five out of seven people over 65 years of age have a permanent injury.”

He bought the site at Goodna more than a decade ago. The plan for a retirement community was born when he became disabled following the car crash which caused extensive spinal damage. He said in about five to 10 years he will be a quadriplegic.

“When I was doing rehab I thought, ‘this needs to be done differently, it’s fine for me I have money, but what about other people who don’t?’,” he said.

“That’s why we moved to do a development which particularly addresses people with disabilities.

“I’m expecting to be the most affordable retirement village in this market … the best bang for buck, not the cheapest and as you can see by the (amenities) we are providing, you won’t find more facilities in the Sheridan.

“It will be one of the last projects I micro manage before (my health deteriorates) – I have five years to get it perfect.”