Opal wins consent for $71m, 135-bed Bella Vista aged care home

The outlet says the approval comes after its 13 October report that Opal paused 760 planned beds because those projects no longer met the operator’s investment thresholds. Opal blamed viability pressure, with construction and operating costs rising faster than Federal Government funding.

An Opal spokesperson told the outlet the home would provide “much-needed high-quality residential aged care” for Bella Vista and Norwest residents, where the over-65 population is expected to double by 2040.

The numbers

The report lists 135 beds, including a dedicated memory care wing with 16 beds for residents living with dementia. Amenities named are a cafe, a function room, wellness facilities, a men’s shed, shared outdoor areas, resident kitchens and laundries, plus 40 basement car spaces.

The outlet’s key points list $63 million as the proposed investment, while its headline and body say $71 million; we use the $71 million figure it gives in the body.

The outlet adds that this is distinct from Opal’s existing Bella Vista Gardens community at 16 Fairway Drive, Kellyville, which arrived with the March 2025 purchase of five Cranbrook Care homes.

What’s next

The report says the application went through environmental assessment, public exhibition and responses to submissions before consent, and that The Weekly SOURCE first covered it entering the State Significant Development pathway in September 2023. It also lists nine Opal developments under way nationally; in Sydney these include the 160-bed Carlingford Greens and the 153-bed St Clair Grove, both due to open in early 2027.

The outlet says this follows two earlier Opal State Significant Development consents, for 145 beds at St Ives last August and for 165 beds at Narwee Parklands in December 2023, and describes Bella Vista as one more consented project in the pipeline.

For another State Significant Development proposal on the north side of Sydney, see our report on Capital Corporation’s Wahroonga plan.