The seven-year journey to 60 aged care beds

The development application for a Western Sydney aged care development first approved in 2019 is now facing construction delays.

Not For Profit aged care provider Holy Family Services commenced construction of its two-storey, 60-bed Nazareth Building in 2024.

The plans, first approved in 2019, were updated in 2024 to align with the National Aged Care Design Principles and Guidelines, a process that took Blacktown City Council nearly 10 months.

“It should have taken four to six weeks,” CEO Alasdair Croydon told The Weekly SOURCE at the time.

Now the project is five months behind schedule and due to open in January 2027.

Holy Family Services is a stand-alone aged care provider in Marayong, 38km north west of the Sydney CBD. The Nazareth Building will replace an older building and join an existing aged care wing through two glass corridors. 

The project is expected to cost $30 million, slightly above the initial $28 million budget. Furniture and beds will add another $1 million to the cost.   

The operator’s next project is demolishing an old nursing home on the site which still features two and four-bed shared rooms, with a total of 56 beds.  

“Once we demolish the nursing home we will replace it with a multi-storey building for assisted living,” Alasdair said. 

The building will be designed and constructed to the Disability Standards, allowing residents to age in place until the end of their lives.  

Holy Family is also rebuilding their commercial kitchen to cater for the additional 60 to 80 residents that will eventually accommodate the assisted living building. 

The architect for the project is Constructive Dialogue Architects, with Grindlays Construction completing the build.

Holy Family Services also has a childcare centre on site.

It is often said it takes seven years to deliver a new residential aged care home. The Nazareth Building appears to prove the point.