Benetas goes bigger on Doncaster Hill

Benetas goes bigger on Doncaster Hill
Mark BaljakMarch 19, 2018

Aged care provider Benetas is approaching an outcome for its Doncaster Road residential aged care and retirement village facility.

Next week Manningham City Council will provide judgement on the development which in part reaches eight levels. Council internal planners are recommending that the application be supported, subject to conditions, but for the most the built form has been green lighted.

During 2016 the 6,317 square metre site was secured by the aged care provider, outpointing apartment developers along the way. At that point a five-level aged care facility was expected to replace the current Papa Rich Malaysian restaurant onsite.

Benetas goes bigger on Doncaster Hill
Doncaster Road frontage. Image: ClarkeHopkinsClarke

Fronting both Doncaster Road and Carawatha Road, the proposal is effectively split into wings. A five-storey residential aged care segment fronts Doncaster Road and consists of 128 lodging rooms whilst the taller part six, part eight-storey retirement village to Carawatha Road.

74 independent living units are slated within the taller wing, split between 8 single bedroom, 54 dual bedroom and 9 triple bedroom apartments. Internals for these living spaces range between 63 square metres and 134 square metres.

Basement parking accommodates 161 vehicles with ground floor retail and restaurant areas summing to 489 square metres.

Communal facilities across the development include an internal courtyard and terrace, cinema, worship space, hair and beauty salon plus a gym.

Benetas goes bigger on Doncaster Hill
The apartment aspect of the development. Image: ClarkeHopkinsClarke

Benetas' proposal is the first large-scale aged care/retirement village complex slated for Doncaster Hill, albeit on the periphery of the designated development zone.

Further east along Doncaster Road a swag of residential projects has either been built, are at sales or have progressed to construction. The residential aspect of Manningham City Council's Doncaster Hill strategy has taken full effect, although other uses such as commercial, hotel or aged care have failed to take a foothold in the concentrated development area.

Council planners noted that Benetas' proposal "complements and supports the strategic role of Doncaster Hill and contributes towards employment targets for the area. The use of the site for an aged care facility and a retirement village affords Doncaster Hill with a net community benefit that is fundamentally supported by policy."

Mark Baljak

Mark Baljak was a co-founder of Urban.com.au. He passed away on Thursday 8th of November 2018 after a battle with cancer. He was 37. Mark was a keen traveller, having visited all six permanently-inhabited continents and had a love of craft beer. One of his biggest passions was observing the change that has occurred in Melbourne over the past two decades. In that time he built an enormous library of photos, all taken by him, which tracked the progress of construction on building sites from across metropolitan Melbourne.

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