RetireAustralia’s new village “where retirement living is heading”
Practical completion of Stage 1 at Arcadia Retirement Living in Yeronga marks more than the delivery of another community for the Invesco Real Estate-owned operator.
For RetireAustralia, it signals the emergence of its largest greenfield development to date and a clear statement about where the next generation of retirement living is heading.
When complete, Arcadia will have up to 217 independent living apartments and a 10-suite Care Hub, across multiple buildings within Brisbane’s Parkside Yeronga Priority Development Area (PDA), a southern riverside suburb.
“Arcadia is the most ambitious project we’ve undertaken to date,” said Brett Robinson, CEO of RetireAustralia. “It’s allowed us to take everything we’ve learned over many years – about design, care, services and community – and apply it in a way that responds directly to how retirement living is changing.”
The Care Hub
Rather than isolating care in a separate building, the Care Hub has been deliberately integrated into daily village life. It sits alongside RetireAustralia’s Support at Home services, is close to shared amenities and what RetireAustralia describes as the “beating heart of the community”.
“We’ve been very deliberate about making care visible, accessible and normalised,” Brett said. “People want reassurance that support is there if they need it – without feeling like they’re being moved to the margins of the community.”
Arcadia’s village team structure
From day one, the community will include a Village Manager, Concierge, and Care and Wellness Coordinator, supported by an onsite care team.
The operator says this reflects extensive research showing that while the apartment is the foundation of a premium retirement living experience, amenities, services, and care are the strongest drivers of perceived value.
“The next generation of retirees see care as a hygiene factor,” Brett said. “What they really value is service – people who make life easier, smoother and more enjoyable. That’s why we’ve invested so heavily in the village team model at Arcadia. The people are what bring the buildings to life.”
There are 45 independent living apartments in Stage 1, with the objective of enabling residents to remain in their own homes, ideally through to end-of-life.
Apartment prices currently are from the mid $800,000s to $2.6 million. Realestate.com.au’s median house price for Yeronga is $1.85 million, while the median apartment price is $860,000.
“For today’s retiree, a high-quality apartment is table stakes,” Brett said. “If the home doesn’t match – or exceed – what they could buy elsewhere in the market, the conversation stops there.”
A different approach to amenities
RetireAustralia has centralised most shared amenities on the ground floor of Arcadia’s Building One. Residents also will have access to a rooftop BBQ and entertainment area with panoramic views across Brisbane CBD and Mount Coot-tha.
“Access to outlook and experience shouldn’t be gated by price alone. That sense of generosity is important to how a community feels,” Brett said.
Retirement living as part of a living neighbourhood
Arcadia Retirement Living sits within the Parkside Yeronga PDA, a 3.1 hectare former TAFE site being redeveloped by Economic Development Queensland as an intergenerational, mixed tenure precinct bringing together retirement living, private residential housing, and social and affordable housing.
“The future of retirement living isn’t about separation – it’s about connection,” Brett said. “People don’t want to step away from everyday life when they retire. They want to remain part of a neighbourhood that feels active, relevant and connected to the wider community.”
Ahead of schedule, with momentum building
Stage 1 practical completion is ahead of the original program, following a deliberate re-sequencing of the project between RetireAustralia’s development team and delivery partner Hutchinson Builders.
More than 25% of Stage 1 apartments have been secured, with a pipeline of prospective residents waiting to inspect completed homes prior to committing, and enquiry levels remaining solid, said RetireAustralia.
