The Old Colonists’ Association of Victoria will invest $11.4M in an additional 35 single and double independent living units across three storeys at its heritage-listed Rushall Park village in Fitzroy North, 4km northeast of the Melbourne CBD.
A second $14.9M development will see another 46 independent living units built at its Leith Park retirement village in Eltham, 22km from the city, bringing its total number to 140.
MGS Architects will oversee both developments, which OCAV CEO Phillip Wohlers says are designed to cut its waiting list of 583 people – the equivalent of six years.
In total they have 900 older Victorians waiting for accommodation, a problem that has the organisation looking at options for expanding beyond its current sites which include four villages.
VIC has one of the lowest rates of social housing stock in Australia, with 32,000 Victorians waiting for public housing.
