First look at award winning Mbark’s proposed retirement village at Federal Golf Club in Canberra

Plans have been made public for a 125-unit retirement village to be operated by Mbark on a southern section of its course in Red Hill, Canberra.

The plans released for consultation ahead of a development application show 77 detached single-storey three-bedroom homes, 48 apartments across six three-storey buildings and a residents’ health and wellbeing facility containing two cinemas, gym and yoga area, pool, library and games area.

Federal Golf Club will also apply for a lease variation to remove its concessional status from about 5.8ha of the club’s 85.9ha lease area where the retirement village is to be sited, and will own both pieces of land.

The club has argued the development, which will also include updating its water infrastructure, was needed to secure its long-term future like many other golf clubs across Australia.

Construction is expected to take four years including the preliminary site works and a three-year build for the village itself. The club expects to lodge a development application next month subject to community feedback on the proposal.

The retirement village will be operated by Mbark and built on holes 6 and 7 and the area in between, but the course will remain an 18-hole championship layout. Mbark, founded by James Robinson, John Leo, and Adam Somerville, own and operate retirement villages Arbour, in Berry, on the NSW South Coast, and Wivenhoe Village, in Camden, in Sydney’s southwest.

The SOURCE: Mbark and Federal Golf Club have been trying to get this village built since October 2015