Rockpool Aged Care achieves Gold Coast milestone
- Development approved: Approval secured for 180-bed aged care home.
- Modern design: The home will feature six 30-resident communities.
- Pipeline: Southport joins projects under construction at Kedron and Hamilton Northshore.
- Sector investment: On track to deliver more than 650 new aged care beds.
The Queensland aged care operator and developer, which sold four aged care homes to Regis last year, is moving forward with its latest project.
Rockpool Aged Care has received development approval for an eight-storey, 180-bed home in Southport, in the Gold Coast CBD, 65km southeast of Brisbane.
Plans include a cafe, wellness and lifestyle centre, hair salon and kitchen on the ground floor. Resident rooms will be located on floors 2-7, with six 'communities' each consisting of 30 residents. A shared lounge and dining area are at the centre of each community. Level one consists of parking and back-of-house facilities.
Plans were lodged with City of Gold Coast Council in June 2025, and approved on 26 June 2026.
The 4,092sqm site, at 18 Cougal Street, is located in the Southport Priority Development area, established in 2013 to fast-track development of the Gold Coast CBD. It is close to high frequency transport options and a mix of complementary services, such as Gold Coast Medi Hub, Vision Centre, and Tasman Health.
Project architect are GJG Architects, which have designed all Rockpool's aged care homes. Planning is by Town Planning Alliance.
The home is expected to open late next year.
Strong development pipeline
Rockpool Aged Care is on track to deliver more than 650 beds in the coming years, and is one of only a handful of operators building new residential aged care homes at scale in Australia.
The operator has projects under construction in Kedron (143 beds) and Hamilton Northshore (153 beds), both about 7km north of the Brisbane CBD.
The Queensland Government has also selected Rockpool Aged Care to build a 180-bed aged care home in Banyo, 12km north of Brisbane, as part of Government's first project under its Land Activation Program. The project was highly contested and will be accompanied by a 64-home affordable housing unit development for essential workers, by Mission Australia Housing, and 207 townhouses, by AR Development Group.
Earlier this year, Rockpool Aged Care CEO Melissa Argent appeared on the cover of SATURDAY.
Roockpool Aged Care was founded by Bill Summers and Michael Watson in 2016. Bill established Ashmore Aged Care in the 1980s and went on to co-found Domain Aged Care in 2002. Domain became Opal HealthCare, now Australia’s largest residential aged care operator.
