Wesley Mission eyes major redevelopment of 5.7ha Sydney site
Wesley Mission targets Sylvania redevelopment
- New plan: $30m+ SSDA lodged for Sylvania site
- Major rebuild: 333 ILUs and 94-bed aged care facility proposed
- Staged delivery: Existing village partly retained and upgraded
- Context: Follows 2023 aged care closures
Three years after Wesley Mission closed its three residential aged care homes in Sydney, plans have now been lodged for the redevelopment of one of the sites.
The Not For Profit organisation had announced the closure of Wesley Rayward Carlingford, Wesley Taylor Narrabeen, and Wesley Vickery Sylvania in April 2023, citing the Australian Government’s aged care reforms as the driver behind the decision.
Its Wesley Taylor Narrabeen aged care home on Sydney’s Northern Beaches has since been sold to Retirement by Moran, which has lodged a State Significant Development Application to redevelop it.
Anglicare Sydney also announced it would bring Wesley Rayward Carlingford, 22km northwest of Sydney’s CBD, back online in October last year.
Now Wesley Mission had lodged a State Significant Development Application (minimum $30 million development cost) to redevelop its remaining 69-bed aged care home in the suburb, 22km south of the CBD, with 333 new Independent Living Units (ILUs) and a new 94-bed residential care facility.
Frank Vickery Village, which has 205 ILUs, has continued to operate on the same site.
The proposed development involves the staged redevelopment of the existing Frank Vickery Retirement Village and the vacant aged care home and other buildings on the site.
Specifically, the proposed works – outlined in a Scoping Report by Beam, lodged with the SSDA – include:
- Staged demolition of part of the existing seniors housing and site preparation works, including removal of some ILUs, the aged care facility roads and necessary trees;
- Staged construction of a seniors housing development comprising:
- Eight new ILU buildings with approximately 333 Independent Living Units (ILUs) varying in height between one to eight storeys;
- One new four-storey residential aged care facility with approximately 94 beds;
- New community facilities to support a range of social, medical and recreational uses;
- Retention of 185 existing ILUs;
- New basements across the site, providing carparks and associated services;
- Administrative spaces with staff amenity; and
- Conservation and adaptive reuse of the heritage listed building.
Wesley Mission currently has 415 ILUs across its two villages, including Frank Vickery Village.
