Work has started on the long-awaited Watervue apartments in the Newcastle CBD while two other major unit complexes are moving closer to reality.
Excavators have started ground works on the Watervue site on the corner of Hunter and Steel streets, a block of land with a checkered development history since the Empire Hotel was damaged in a fire in 2003 and demolished 13 years ago.
Several affordable housing projects have been planned for the prominent corner over the years.
The previous proposal for the site, the 15-storey Onyx apartments, was abandoned by Miller Property Group in 2019 due to slow sales.
But selling agent Andrew Walker confirmed work had begun on Watervue after the Hunter and Central Coast Regional Planning Panel approved the $50 million project late last year.
The 20-storey building includes 106 apartments next door to the Mercure Hotel.
Two blocks further west, work crews spent the weekend assembling a crane at the site of DOMA Group's 30-storey Store apartment towers.
The project has taken two years to kick off after DOMA gave the green light to building the apartment complex in 2022.
At more than 100 metres and with 350 apartments, the Store will be the tallest building in Newcastle and one of the largest unit developments in the city's history.
Development and construction firm Bloc, which is also behind the Watervue development, closed off Hunter Street over the weekend to erect the towering Store crane.
The Newcastle Herald understands another stalled project in Newcastle West, the Spotlight site redevelopment, is close to being sold.
The Herald reported in November that development team St Hilliers and Spotlight Property Group had put the 711 Hunter Street site up for sale after winning development approval.
Property agents Colliers and JLL Sydney listed the 0.47-hectare site for sale with approval in place for two 26-storey buildings facing National Park Street.
The "West Village" proposal includes 257 apartments, retail and commercial spaces and an open-air bar.
A property industry source said a sale was looming for the site, which is another key development in Newcastle West's transformation.
At the other end of the same block, development firm Spartohori has started demolishing the former West End Hotel building to make way for a narrow, seven-storey office building on the corner of Hunter Street and Stewart Avenue.
Barely 100 metres away, Sydney developer Mutlipart Property still has not resumed construction work on the stalled Bowline apartment tower.
The 17-storey project was delayed due to water leaking into the excavated basement in 2021 and multiple changes in builders over the past three years.
One of the building companies, Eastern Pacific, went into administration early this year, but Newcastle firm Basebuild said in June that it was poised to take over the construction contract and start work that month.
Sydney-based Multipart said in June that it remained "fully committed" to completing the project "with full financier's support".
The owners of the high-profile Spotlight site in Newcastle West have put the land on the market two weeks after securing development approval for two high-rise apartment towers.
But Colliers agent Peter Macadam said interest in the project had been strong.
"The strength of the Newcastle market is widely acknowledged, and given that development consent has been obtained for a stageable project in a premium location there has been over 100 enquiries from national and local development companies," he said.
