A £10m purpose-built ‘retirement village’, which includes the conversion of an Edwardian mansion and a cinema, is now under construction in south Liverpool. Tony McDonough reports
Work has started on a £10m ‘retirement village’ in south Liverpool which includes studio apartments and a cinema.
Owners of the Stapely Care Jewish residential care home in Mossley Hill are embarking on the scheme which is based on a model that he’s become popular in the US and Australia.
Stapely Care Village involves creating 70 residential units for either sale or lease for the ‘senior living’ market aimed at people aged 55 years and above. It will also include a cinema which is already completed.
Incorporated in the development is Fernlea House, an Edwardian mansion built around 1910-12 for the Crawford family, of biscuit-manufacturing fame. Prior to the pandemic it was used as a residential care home.
The building has been entirely gutted and internally rebuilt for its new role, although the main community areas retain their period features. It will offer 17 studio apartments costing between £130,000 and £250,000 available from spring to autumn 2023.
Adjacent to Sefton Park the project will also see a high-end restaurant, specialising in fresh food from its own dedicated kosher kitchens, and an adjacent piano bar (with its centrepiece grand piano).
Both public rooms open onto a terrace with additional seating overlooking the gardens. These were laid out in the 1920s and are now being restored.
Already completed is a purpose-built 50-seater art deco-style cinema, with Dolby surround sound plus the Coffee Lounge conservatory. Further additions will include a fitness club, beauty, hairdressing salon, pool, and onsite GP.
Stapely Care trustee Philip Ettinger, said: “High-end retirement villages have proved extremely popular in the US and Australia and I am very proud to bring the concept to North West England. There will be nothing to rival its facilities.
“Investors have questioned why there are no similar facilities in the UK to those in the US and Australia although there is clearly a demand for them. Fernlea House at Stapely Village is the answer to that in Merseyside.
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“The Fernlea House at Stapely Village development take us not only into a new exciting era, but also creates the opportunity for its residents to experience an entirely new way of senior living.”
Stapely Care was established in 1948, and welcomes residents whatever their religion, creed or race. The accredited estate agent is Martin & Co in Liverpool.