A $34 million retirement village may join a planned Arcare aged care development in Belmont, near Newcastle, NSW, with Oak Tree submitting a development application for the former site of the Belmont Sporties club.
While Arcare’s single-storey residential care home is slated for the site of the old bowling green, Oak Tree’s village – with recreational facilities; gardens; 75 total units including two-bedroom apartments, two-bedroom apartments with studies, and three-bedroom apartments; and a 90-space underground carpark – would sit on the land formerly occupied by the clubhouse itself, which closed in 2018 and burned down in February this year.
According to Melissa Luck, National Manager – New Developments at Oak Tree Retirement Villages, the transformation of the Sporties site at 2A Maude Street, including removal of the burnt-out clubhouse, is “well overdue”.
“The Belmont catchment has a rapidly aging population and severely limited housing choice. Underpinning our core values and passion to keep seniors local, it will give local retirees the option to downsize and remain in their community, with easy access to public transport, medical and retail amenities.
“Belmont has a large population aged over 54 years, which is expected to be the fastest growing cohort over the next two decades, with natural growth possibly further accentuated by migration from Sydney driven by COVID-19,” she said.
The plans are currently before Lake Macquarie City Council, which last year approved Arcare’s neighbouring 80-bed development at 2B Maude Street with deferred commencement pending further stormwater management investigation.
