Retirement Villages Group (RVG), owned by AXA IM Real Assets, is delighted to announce that planning permission has been granted for its project at Tunbridge Wells (Kent), to develop a new integrated retirement community scheme at the dormant site at the heart of the local community. In addition, in a sector leading initiative, RVG has committed to developing the site to the highest decarbonisation gold standard, meaning it will be whole of life net zero carbon project across its entire development and operational lifespans. This will be RVG’s second such scheme following on from the recent announcement of a similarly high benchmark at its scheme at West Byfleet. No other developer in the residential sector has made this commitment.
RVG will redevelop the former ABC cinema site on Mount Pleasant Road which has lain vacant for more than two decades. This represents a major milestone for this prominent town centre site as RVG’s plans come to fruition to reactivate this part of Royal Tunbridge Wells with a community built for people aged 65 and over. The scheme, which has been through extensive consultation with the local community and stakeholders from the offset, will create a later living community featuring 166 beautifully designed new homes with a wide range of on-site amenities including a restaurant, bar, hydro-therapy pool, gym, and multi-purpose function room. There will also be 9 new retail units and attractive landscaped spaces open to the public, which underpins RVG’s vision to create places that are connected to the wider community and sets a whole new standard for integrated retirement communities.
The site forms part of a long-term strategy, backed by owner AXA IM Alts, to acquire and develop up to 40 new later living schemes across the UK over the next 15 years, each of which will meet the ambitious net zero carbon gold standard RVG has committed to. Locations will be targeted in urban and peri-urban locations where dormant or derelict sites can be regenerated to revitalise local communities.
Will Bax, Chief Executive of Retirement Villages Group said:
“We have set out to create amazing, sustainable communities, connected to thriving local centres, breathing new life into urban and suburban neighbourhoods and country locations. Our next generation of urban retirement villages will be built to the highest design and sustainability standards. In towns such as Tunbridge Wells, this also means the regeneration of sites that have long been neglected. We are delighted to be moving forward with exciting plans to regenerate a site at Tunbridge Wells that has been dormant for two decades.”
