Urban infill – planning for the ages
To date, development planning for the Baby Boomer generation has received little attention at the policy level. Yet this generation represents over 25 per cent of people with control over more than 55 per cent of the country’s wealth.
The opportunity and threat of the nation’s greatest ever demographic change has been at the forefront of planning strategy for LandCorp, Western Australia’s land and development agency. More than that, they are putting it into action, releasing prime state-owned development sites for seniors’ accommodation and services in strategic sites across WA.
LandCorp’s Chief Operating Officer, Dean Mudford, explains to Ansell Strategic’s Cam Ansell the impetus for the strategy and its wider application to other Australian states and territories.
What is behind LandCorp’s decision to prioritise seniors’ accommodation in recent land releases?
“Several years ago, the State Government had received bipartisan support for our strategy for urban infill and density developments. Key to our vision was the creation of communities that encouraged diversity and intergenerational living. We wanted to encourage a ‘whole of life’ concept and make available places for older people where they could share time with their children and their grandchildren.
How did you go about determining which sites would be suitable for seniors’ developments?
“We immediately set about obtaining feedback from industry on priorities and gaps in the market. The Property Council was instrumental in setting context and making introductions to industry leaders. Through this engagement, we started to focus on areas of need and the sort of sites that would give sufficient scale and density.
Ansell Strategic was then engaged to evaluate LandCorp’s shortlist and rank the sites in order of market priority. A series of lenses were applied across local demand pressures, commercial principles and the quality of existing seniors’ accommodation in these growing communities.
Clear demand areas were identified in areas where traditional residential development was outstripping the supply of support services for older generations. The highly affluent suburb of Claremont was a prime example and this site was the first off the rank.”
And how did the Claremont project go?
“The level of interest in Claremont of the Park certainly exceeded our expectations. Historically, sites had been promoted with retirement living or aged care as possible uses, but this is one of the first times that the site could only be used for this purpose.
“The effect was that the industry became highly engaged and the level of innovation and commitment to the site was evident. The process was so competitive that we had to extend the evaluation process and allow applicants to present their ideas with their architects. We were extremely impressed with the imagination applied to the proposed service offerings and design.”
Was there a substantial compromise made on price given the specific use?
“Not at all – and we had been prepared for that outcome. We could see from the design presentations that we are dealing with a much more sophisticated product and target market than retirement villages and aged care homes of the past. They were not just appealing to us, we could see how they would be attractive to older people and their families, who have limited options in these priority areas. The feedback we have had from locals on the street has been terrific!
At the same time, a slowing in residential property prices made this alternative more exciting at a commercial level for developers. Our second seniors’ release in Joondalup yielded similar results and we expect the same for the Jolimont site about to be released.”
What do see as being the benefits of this strategy?
“Aside from the obvious benefit for older people living within intergenerational communities, the initiative will create serious economic benefits. Seniors’ accommodation like these are routinely accompanied by care and lifestyle services and this means substantial jobs and activity drawn to the area. The Claremont and Joondalup developments will create permanent employment for hundreds of locals and a huge development injection worth well over $100 million.
We are also looking to apply the approach to some of our major regional centres. Like the inner metropolitan catchments, many of our growing regional towns have little on offer for older people. This can make it harder to attract families and difficult for them to stay. If we can provide incentives for seniors’ developments in these regions, we’ll be better equipped to build sustainable communities and stable population growth.”
Is there application for development planning for the rest of Australia?
“I believe there is and there is room for further improvement in WA. All states and territories would benefit from a more coordinated approach to facilitating seniors’ developments in the inner metropolitan ring and in growing regional centres. Before that, it would be great to see a set required planning allocation for older people to guide local government and state government land authorities.”
This article was provided by Ansell Strategic, sponsor of the National Retirement Living Summit 2018.