Residents of the 31-unit St Francis Xavier Terrace Retirement Village in Lavender Bay, Sydney, have been told their homes will be demolished if a proposed redevelopment of the site proceeds.
Parish Priest Father Richard Leonard SJ confirmed the closure would follow if a State Significant Development Application lodged by the Sydney Archdiocese and St Vincent de Paul Housing is approved.
The 40-year-old retirement village sits within the 5,990sqm grounds of the heritage-listed St Francis Xavier Church on Sydney’s lower North Shore. Under the proposal, it would be replaced with a 20-storey apartment tower comprising 186 apartments, including 50 affordable housing units managed by St Vincent de Paul.
Fr Leonard confirmed the news in a letter to parishioners earlier this month and held a private meeting with residents last week.
“We are seeking to build a housing development with around five times as many units as now, many of them affordable units,” he said.
“It does mean that the residents have to move out of Xavier Terrace in 18 months to two years’ time because the 40-year-old block needs to be demolished for the new development.”
Fr Leonard said the parish would hold optional meetings with residents every three months.
“I fully understand how hard this news was to hear,” he added. “Even though this is the right and best decision for the future of the parish, I can only imagine the personal pain, anxiety and dislocation this will cause them.”
“As a parish, however, we have to steward our assets as best we can now, and for generations to come.”
The redevelopment remains in the preliminary planning phase. Once a formal application is submitted, the project will enter a public exhibition period, giving the community the opportunity to provide feedback.
