Go ahead for $200M medium density Cowes village

CHURCH Street Cowes will soon be home to Victoria’s 26th Lifestyle Communities village, a project worth as much as $200 million once the site is developed with clubhouse, bowling green, parks and swimming pools, and 256 new dwellings.

The land component alone, being a 12-hectare site in the General Residential Zone, running from 299-325 Church Street through to Settlement Road, reportedly cost the ASX listed, top 300 company $27 million to buy.

And together with the $14 million site development cost disclosed to council and the value of the homes, estimated at between $450,000 and $860,000 – the project could easily pass the $200 million mark.

Despite receiving 15 submissions, raising such issues as traffic congestion, loss of open space, noise, overdevelopment, strain on local infrastructure, impact on neighbourhood character and loss of vegetation; the Bass Coast Shire Council voted unanimously last Wednesday to approve the planning application.

They had already extracted significant concessions from the $1 billion company, reducing the number of dwellings from 277 in the original proposal, to a maximum of 256, while adding five “parklets” and an expanded park area adjacent to the Settlement Road access point.

Cr Ron Bauer, who objected to the “sardine can” style density of the proposed layout in August, moved the motion to accept the project at the October council meeting, with 21 fewer UMDs (Unregistered Moveable Dwellings) allowed on the site.

A visit to the development company’s Clyde North project changed his mind.

“When this proposal originally came before Council, I said I was against this project. I recognize there is a need for this and a desire for this type of retirement village,” said Cr Bauer.

“My objection was the number of units being crammed into the site. Following the refusal of the original report, the operators extended to all councillors an invitation to see for themselves what the business model is and how it operates.

“Cr Halstead and I together with Ms Taylor took up the offer and went to visit the retirement village at North Clyde. During that visit, we were taken on a guided tour of the facility and spoke to some of the residents who happened to be walking past all of whom spoke warmly about living there.

“I took the opportunity to walk down one of the streets that was not on the Cook’s tour and spoke to a few people that happened to be randomly walking along. What really impressed me was that they were very happy with the management and the programs that were offered and the staff of the village.”

Cr Bauer went on to say that there had been some talk about reducing the number of units to 249 but after the revised plans came through with a 256, he wanted to have it included in the conditions and motion passed by council that the maximum would be 256, which he said was a fair compromise after the original proposal of 277.

Cr Rochelle Halstead and Cr Bruce Kent, who had earlier expressed their reservations, also supported the application with a reduced number of houses.

With the ASX-listed company following strict performance criteria, it is expected that the Cowes project will now go ahead quickly, joining others under construction at Wollert North, Deanside, St

Leonards, Clyde North and Woodlea. Others are set to follow at Pakenham, Clyde, Merrifield, Ocean Grove and Leopold.

Lifestyle Communities will then have approximately 5390 homes in similar communities, boosting critically-needed housing stock.

Cowes village in good hands

WITH a market capitalisation of $1.69 billion, Lifestyle Communities Ltd (ASX:LIC), the developers of Cowes’ new $200 million residential village, is a top 300 company on the Australian Stock Exchange.

Lifestyle Communities earned revenue of $224.4 million last financial year and posted a net profit of $88.87 million.

It presently has 5392 dwellings completed or in the pipeline, of which 3193 are occupied.

The firm raised $29.7 million from site rental fees during the past year and $10.9 million in deferred management fees (DMFs), an amount which residents incur during their tenure and is deducted from the sale price when the unit is sold.

The firm was formed about 20 years ago, with the aim of providing beautiful, downsizer-centric homes across Melbourne, Geelong, the Bellarine and Mornington Peninsulas and Regional Victoria, complemented by common facilities that engender connectivity and wellbeing.

James Kelly, the Managing Director of Lifestyle Communities, and one of its founders, has more than 40 years’ experience in property development and construction, previously as CEO of the Dennis Family Corporation, also with senior roles at Coles Myer and Lend Lease Corporation.