LDK Seniors Reveals Aged Care Project for Brisbane’s Bayside

A site at Brisbane’s northernmost suburb and home to World War II-era RAAF barracks has been slated for a multi-storey seniors living development.

LDK Seniors Living has proposed the 2.1ha bayside site at 16 Twenty Fourth Avenue, Brighton, for its fourth major retirement project, dubbed The Baybrook.

Plans filed with the Brisbane City Council comprise a retirement facility of 136 independent living units and a care facility of 19 high-care studios. The project—about a 35-minute drive north of the Brisbane CBD—would be delivered in two stages. 

The Rothelowman-designed scheme consists of two buildings, one of six storeys and the other of seven, as well as a cafe, restaurants, bars, a theatre and hair salon.

There would also be a communal rooftop terrace on the taller building and 293 carparking spaces across the basement and ground-floor levels. 

The two existing buildings on the southern half of the site, built during World War II, would be developed “once heritage matters were resolved”, according to the plans.

▲ The 2.1ha site at Brighton included two World War II-era buildings.

As the site is mapped in a medium and high storm-tide inundation overlay, the minimum habitable level will be at 3.6 metres.

The project would become one of the largest developments at Brighton and the neighbouring bayside suburbs and comes 14 years after protests over the proposed closure of neighbouring Eventide, a state-run aged care facility.

While LDK Seniors picked up the site last year, The Uniting Church in Australia Property Trust is still listed as the owners of the site that is zoned Community Facilities (Health Care Purposes Precinct).

CBRE ran an expressions-of-interest campaign for the site, which attracted nine formal offers and 187 enquiries.

“While sold without development approval, concept plans were drawn for a mix of residential offerings including detached homes, terrace homes, and apartments, positioning the site as a future catalyst for Brighton’s ongoing development,” the agents said.