Another Community Apartment Project (CAPs) challenges the traditional retirement village model. 140 apartments in a 40 storey vertical village for Over 65s is part of a development application lodged for Monarch Place, the second stage of the $3 billion Imperial Square masterplan taking shape in the oldest city on the Gold Coast.

“We are thrilled to be introducing a new style of residences for the over-65 market at Monarch Place that will take downsizing to a completely new level in the heart of Southport," Robert Badalotti, CEO of Gold Coast-based Azzura Investments, told Urban.

There will be two-bedrooms, two-bedrooms plus study, three- and four-bedroom luxury apartments for the Over 65s. There will also be 83 freehold apartments.

The vertical retirees’ village will feature exclusive amenities on level five, including a grand ballroom, dining, gymnasium, sauna, heated indoor pool and spa, a hairdressing salon and beauty parlour, cinema, golf simulator, art and craft studio, library, and resident workshop.

There will also be a community garden on level six, and all residents of Monarch Place will have access to the podium which will house a hotel-tavern and restaurants complemented by resident barbecue facilities alongside an outdoor ‘kabana lagoon’ pool.

The tower, designed by Kris Kowalski Architects, has retail and commercial tenancies on the ground level and first floor, complimented with a range of strata-titled specialist medical suites on level two.

The first stage, the 18-level Regal Residences, is currently under construction on the 1.4ha site.

Azzura plans to officially launch Monarch Place to the market in late May with construction expected to start in late 2023. The second stage of the development is scheduled to welcome its first residents in 2025.