The project includes 262 serviced dwellings and a 216-bed aged-care facility at Wests Mayfield, according to the NSW Department of Planning website.

Wests applied to the department last year for confirmation that seniors housing was compatible with the location. That application progressed to the Hunter and Central Coast JRPP last week.

In a letter accompanying the application, the department notes that the Mayfield development is compatible with the site but that its "bulk and scale are not consistent with the character of the surrounding residential area".

"Careful consideration of appropriate transitions of height density between the site and surrounding area are required," the letter says.

The Newcastle Herald attempted to contact Wests Group on Monday for comment on the plan.

The redevelopment continues the expansion of the Wests empire, which now includes six licensed clubs in Newcastle, the Newcastle Knights rugby league team, the Executive Inn and Gateway Inn hotels, The Anchorage resort at Port Stephens and the Balance gym chain.

Wests lodged plans last month for the $18 million Knights Centre of Excellence at Broadmeadow.

The organisation raked in $175 million in revenue last year, much of it from poker machines, and made a $14 million profit. Its annual revenue was almost $30 million higher than in 2017.

Wests' first foray into the housing scene comes amid a boom in seniors living developments in Newcastle and the Lower Hunter.

Some of the projects in the pipeline are a $103 million, 223-unit seniors village at Wallsend, the 13-storey Long Tan Village in the inner-city and retirement centres at Merewether, Shortland Waters and Newcastle golf clubs.