Spokesman for Leaning Rock Village Inc, Alexandra lawyer Russell Checketts, said the aim was to cater for the increasing number of retirees in the district.
''At the moment, people who need more care as they get older have to shift away, outside the area, to access that care because of the shortage of suitable aged care in the Alexandra Clyde area, and that's a real shame,'' he said.
A group of business people from the wider Alexandra Clyde area had established the trust and planned a public meeting on May 21 at the Cellar Door in Alexandra, starting at 7pm, to gauge interest and support for the venture.
The group had carried out considerable research and planned a staged development with self care units through to full care facilities, all based close to Alexandra, Mr Checketts said.
''Eventually we'll go the whole nine yards, including a dementia unit, but the development will be staged, with a few units built and then more once they are filled and just going about it quietly.''
The village would be operated by a charitable trust, making sure all profits were kept locally and ploughed back into the facilities. He declined to comment on the cost of the development.
''This has a distinct advantage ... as the profits are not going off shore or to out of town shareholders.''
Asked about the motivation of the Leaning Rock Village group, Mr Checketts said they were all ''aged over 60, and have sufficient money to start this up and then get their money back''.
Figures from the last census revealed 24.3% of Clyde residents were aged 65 or over and 27.1% of Alexandra residents were in that age bracket.
Finding a suitable piece of land was the most crucial step in developing the concept and the group was focusing on one location, near the Alexandra Golf Course.
The land was between State Highway 8 and the Otago Central Rail Trail on one side and between Molyneux Estate and the golf course on the other.
There had been delays concerning use of the land so the trust had now widened its search to include other parcels of land within 5km of Alexandra and Clyde, he said.
The site near the golf course was the best location as retirement village residents could then use the shops, cafes and other services in Alexandra rather than having to replicate those services within the village.
The group was aware the key ingredients for a successful village were the facility, the management and the location, Mr Checketts said. Being a non profit operation was one of the key features of the proposed development.
Commercially run rest home operators might return their shareholders up to 19% a year on their investment. Some of the units would be offered to other charitable organisations to administer.
Those organisations, for example Masonic lodges, Ngai Tahu and the Salvation Army, might want to subsidise their members' occupancy of units, Mr Checketts said.
The venture should be able to offer better wages for staff than usual, as there would be no requirement for profit by the charity, he said.
Care of the elderly emerged as an issue during the Central Otago local body election campaign in 2013.
Several residents raised the matter at election forums and said people were being forced to move away from the district because of a shortage of rest home and dementia unit accommodation within the district.
