Land LeasePhil BartschTue 03 Nov 26
GemLife Plots Northern Exposure with 550-Home Townsville Scheme
GemLife has filed plans for a $457-million over-50s land lease community in Townsville, providing strategic northern exposure for its portfolio as it targets the expanding downsizer market in regional Queensland.
Earmarked for a 32.5ha parcel at Mount Low, about 16km north-west of Townville’s CBD, it would deliver 550 homes across a five-to-six-year development timeline.
To be known as GemLife Northern Beaches, the proposed scheme features two residential precincts separated by a central landscaped green corridor.
All the homes would be a two-bedroom layout paired with a multipurpose room and outdoor living space.
More than 38 per cent of the site is designated for communal open space, with amenities including two swimming pools, a gym, wellness facilities, tennis and pickleball courts, a cinema, 10-pin bowling alley and dining areas.
As well, parking space would be provided for 50 recreational vehicles.
GemLife chief executive Adrian Puljich said roughly one-third of Townsville’s population was aged over 50 and the project would address an undersupply of downsizer housing options in the city.
“While it is one of Australia’s fastest growing housing sectors, land lease communities are a relatively new concept for the Far North,” he said.
Pending council approval, construction is slated to begin in 2027, alongside state-backed road network upgrades via the Queensland Government’s Regional Activation Fund.
The proposed development pushes the pipeline of over-50s residential development in the Townsville region beyond 1800 homes. Other land lease developers and operators active in the area include Lincoln Place and Ingenia Communities.
ASX-listed GemLife secured the site at 258 Svensson Road, adjoining Maidment Group’s Sanctum residential estate in the city’s northern growth corridor, in December last year in a $21-million deal.
