Plans have been announced to re-scape a street in Melbourne’s South Yarra in preparation for Australia's first six-star care facility. The $80m project by Australian Aged Care Group will see a 79-suite luxury aged care residency on a hill overlooking the Yarra River. Each 60sqm suite will offer residents a bedroom, dining, kitchenette and sitting rooms as well as a balcony.

Several small apartment buildings and townhouses have been earmarked to make way for the facility, with a number of local residents complaining about the proposal. 169 objections have been lodged thus far. Aged Care Group has listed the case at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal because the council failed to make a decision within the prescribed 60-day period. But Cr Koce said complex planning applications involving community consultation required more time.

The aged-care centre replaces another five-storey apartment proposed for the site, originally approved in 2010.