Doma Group will return to the drawing board with its plans for high-rise apartments in Merewether Street after acquiring land next door in the former rail corridor.
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The Newcastle Herald reported last week that Doma and Hunter developer Hilton Grugeon’s GWH Build were the successful tenderers for two adjoining blocks of state government-owned land, one exclusively on the corridor and the other with frontage to Hunter Street.
Doma had already submitted plans for a nine-storey, 48-unit development known as The Crossing at 1 Merewether Street.
A spokesman said the firm would now come up with a “whole new scheme” for the project after securing the narrow strip of corridor land next door.
Doma had not started selling apartments off the plan for The Crossing.
It has the option of building on the corridor or leaving it undeveloped and transferring the floor-space ratio to increase the number of apartments at 1 Merewether Street.
Hunter and Central Coast Development Corporation, which handled the land sale, has not revealed details of Doma’s winning proposal, other than to say it would “enable additional retail activation of Merewether Street with residential apartments above”.
“The corridor site has allowed Doma to reimagine and improve a pre-existing concept for its adjacent site, which is a good outcome for the city,” HCCDC boss Michael Cassel said last week.
Doma had won five previous tenders for government land in Newcastle, at 18, 21, 35 and 42 Honeysuckle Drive and the Store site in Hunter Street.
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Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
