Sovereign Hills

A flurry of development applications is expected from The Lewis Land Group over coming months as it shores up its infrastructure for Sovereign Hills.

Group director Robert Yandell said a DA would soon be lodged for a “Welcome Centre” building comprising 3000 square metres of office space.

“That will have our site office, a credit union, surveyors, accountants, lawyers, communications operators and a media company,” he said.

“That’s an exciting building because it’s designed to be a five-star, fully-sustainable building.”

Mr Yandell said negotiations were also underway with tavern operators and large accommodation hotels for the site.

A DA will soon be lodged for an exhibition village similar to Homeworld in Sydney which is expected to open late next year (2008).

“As developers, we are pleased to be in a position to offer our first residents substantial infrastructure and a community network,” he said.

“Often early bird purchasers need to wait for infrastructure to grow around them, however, we are committed to ensuring this is in place before they move in.”

The St Agnes Regional Catholic High School will open with a student base of more than 600 in February 2009.

Not-for-profit aged care provider RSL Care hopes to have the first of its $100 million developments at Sovereign Hills nearing completion by early 2009. By 2012, RSL Care will provide a full range of accommodation and care for more than 300 seniors at Sovereign Hills.

Original article was written by Simone Plews and appeared in the Port Macquarie News on 19 November 2007.

$25m deal at Sovereign Hills site

The developers of Sovereign Hills have secured Woolworths to anchor its town centre as it prepares to release the first stage of its residential development early next year.

The Lewis Land Group is rolling out its infrastructure for the site on the western outskirts of Port Macquarie in perparation for an April land release.

Group director Robert Yandell said the blue-chip retailer would anchor the development’s $25 million convenience retail complex.

Woolworths has pre-committed to the group’s $1 billion Port Macquarie development, signing a 40-year lease for a supermarket in Sovereign Hills town centre.

The Woolworths site will comprise a full-service 3800m2 supermarket with a petrol station and parking for 410 vehicles.

“It will be the basis for the beginning of the town centre, effectively,” Mr Yandell said.

Woolworths group north property operations manager Anthony Mellowes said the supermarket was expected to open in 2009.

“The other big thing from the Woolworths perspective is we are very much into environmentally friendly developments and this will be one of them,” he said.

The supermarket will employ 100 staff in its construction phase and 100 people on-going in the store.

Mr Mellowes said Woolworths was confident in Port Macquarie and its growth.

“We can’t sit back and wait,” he said. “We want to go in early and make sure everything grows around us.”

Woolworths regional property manager Kayn Miller said the store would be “at the heart of that town”.

The first stage of the Sovereign Hills retail area will comprise Woolworths, nine specialty stores, a kiosk, outdoor cafe and a food hall.

Original article was written by Simone Plews and appeared in the Port Macquarie News on 16 November 2007.

MORE than 300 aged care places will be provided by RSL Care in a $14 million investment in new accommodation facilities at Sovereign Hills.

RSL Care is one of the largest not-for-profit aged care providers in Australia and has acquired several sites within the residential development on Port Macquarie’s outskirts.

The plan is to develop an aged care village, three “embedded in community” villages and aged care apartments across sites totalling eight hectares by 2012.

“The range of care that will be offered at Sovereign Hills will set a new benchmark for seniors living in NSW and is in direct response to the changing needs of older Australians,” director of Lewis Land Group Robert Yandell said.

“RSL Care’s model provides a complete range of care options to suit those who wish to stay living in their own home with the security of assistance & independent seniors through to those who have intense health needs that need to be closely managed.”

The aged care village at Sovereign Hills will comprise 100 independent living units and a high-care facility of up to 120 beds.

RSL Care also will develop three “embedded in community” villages within Sovereign Hills built on large sites within general residential areas.

The homes will all feature street frontages with separate entrances yet share a common landscaped backyard providing the security of a village to residents.

The first of these clusters will be developed in 2008 and will feature 17 individual properties.

A 50-apartment aged care facility also will be developed in the Sovereign Hills town centre above retail and commercial buildings.

“In addition to the obvious community benefits of having such a diverse range of care facilities, these facilities will generate almost 200 permanent jobs at Sovereign Hills,” Mr Yandell said.

Sovereign Hills, a $1 billion community development, is located on a 350-hectare land parcel at the junction of Oxley and Pacific highways.

The site will be developed into a sustainable new town within the next 10 to 15 years.

The award-winning development will include a diverse range of residential dwelling types, a business and technology park, a town centre providing up to 2,000 jobs, convenience retail and educational and recreational facilities.

Extensive parklands and a lake system will form the heart of Sovereign Hills.

RSL Care provides HomeCare, retirement living and residential care to the ex-service and wider communities. It began in 1936 and has grown to accommodate more than 4,000 people in 24 retirement communities throughout Queensland and NSW.

Original article was written by Simone Plews and appeared in the Port Macquarie News on 27 October 2007.