A €43million private retirement village in Naxxar will open its doors next month.

Spread over 17,000 square metres, Hilltop Gardens, an AX Holdings project, will host 133 luxury apartments and penthouses.

AX chairman Angelo Xuereb said the project bridged the gap between a retirement home and independent living arrangement.

The concept, he said, was to provide living quarters suitable for the elderly while also offering a fully licensed residential care home within the same development. More than half the project’s footprint is outdoors, including walkways, gardens and other landscaping.

Facilities include a fitness centre, library, a water chapel, restaurant, wellness spa, indoor and outdoor pools and a clinic centre.

Hilltop Gardens CEO Jacqueline Camilleri said the complex was the first to offer 24-hour GP services. A Memory Support Unit will assist persons with dementia and diabetes services will also be provided.

The centre will include a dietitian and nutritionist and residents need only be aged 55 and over to snap up one of the properties.

Social Solidarity Minister Michael Farrugia attended the opening. He said the complex would start to address the island’s problem of low elderly participation in work and education or training.

Health Minister Konrad Mizzi said the project had raised the bar for the entire industry. Describing it as innovative, he said, he hope to see more projects of the same calibre.