GLBT RETIREMENT VILLAGE IS COMING TO VICTORIA

Construction of Australia's first much anticipated GLBT retirement village is likely to begin next year.

The Linton Estate is a $26 million retirement village aimed primarily at gay, lesbian and transgender seniors. Plans for the project were first submitted to city officials in 2000 but a weak economy had stalled the project, developer Peter Dickson said.

The development is to be located about an hour's drive from Melbourne – Australia's second largest city behind Sydney – in the rural town of Ballan.

The village is expected to include a community center surrounded by 120 single-story living units. Amenities include a gym, pool, bowling greens, tennis court and club house.

The Linton Estate is being marketed as a GLBT retirement community; however, sexual orientation is not a deciding factor.

“There's a fair number of straight people that want to live there,” developer Dickson says. (who wouldn't...)

Pricing details and final plans are expected to be made public next year.