June 24, 2021
A Queensland-based company has applied to the South Burnett Regional Council to construct 110 one-bedroom rental units for seniors on a vacant block of land in Kingaroy.
Eureka Group proposes to build the independent living units on a 2.09ha block at 95 Markwell Street.
In a statement to the ASX earlier this month, Eureka executive chairman Murray Boyte said the company had entered into a conditional contract to purchase the land.
“The conditional contract is subject to South Burnett Regional Council’s approval of a Development Application … as well as finance and Board approval,” Mr Boyte said.
Chief operating officer Cameron Taylor told southburnett.com.au that Eureka submitted a Development Application to Council at the end of May and hoped to have an answer by July or August.
Eureka already operates 38 villages across Australia, including many in Queensland.
Mr Taylor said Eureka’s “point of difference” from other retirement living villages was the fact they offered “an affordable rental model”.
“And the rent is indexed to the pension,” he said.
Mr Taylor said the availability of rental accommodation in regional towns was “quite restricted ” at present.
“We like Kingaroy as an investment opportunity because the hospital has been recently done up and expanded,” he said.
Mr Taylor said rental accommodation for seniors could stop the “leakage” of residents, where older people looking for retirement living options drifted off to larger towns such as Toowoomba or Brisbane.
And he said a rental model was much easier for many people to understand than the complex investment process offered by many retirement villages.
