The new owners of a key development site in Newcastle West say they will push the area's 90-metre height limit if buyer demand warrants it.
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Thirdi Group, which has built three large apartment blocks in nearby Wickham, bought the Dairy Farmers Corner site in Hunter Street from high-profile developer Jeff McCloy last week for an undisclosed sum.
The company, with building partner Basebuild, will stage an architectural design competition next year to plan about 200 units on the 3780-square metre block.
The land at 924 Hunter Street, which once housed a car showroom, is one of a handful with the most generous height limit in the city.
"We will want to maximise the site, get the best outcome for the community, but, if it doesn't make sense to push the height limit, we won't," Thirdi director Luke Berry said on Friday.
Mr Berry said it was "early days" in the design process, but the company saw the project as an "important bookend" to the emerging Newcastle West business and residential district.
"I think the best bet will be for us to meet with the council in the new year, get a feel for what they want there then do the design competition to see what the experts think.
"If all the ducks line up, then, yes, we would go that high, but it's too early to tell."
DOMA Group had concept plans approved in March 2019 for two 99-metre apartment towers on the nearby Store site but has not started building them.
Thirdi's latest land deal suggests the company believes demand for apartment living in the inner-city is not about to fade.
Mr Berry said Thirdi would market the project at Sydney people wanting to escape to a major regional city.
"We see a massive shift of people choosing to live and work in Newcastle and also commute to Sydney, so we will be creating apartments that will attract these sort of profiles."
He said Thirdi had sold more than 100 of the 112 units in its recently opened Eaton project in Wickham and 125 of the 150 apartments in its Stella Building on Hannell Street.
The company is also partnering with Merewether Golf Club to build 148 seniors apartments on the course.
Sydney firm Multipart Property says it has sold more than half of the 97 units in its 14-storey Bowline building in Wickham and plans to start work in the second quarter of 2021.
Also under construction are DOMA's Huntington 88-unit development on the Honeysuckle waterfront, GWH's 19-storey Sky Residences in King Street and stages one and two of Iris Capital's massive EastEnd complex beside the Hunter Street Mall.
Sydney developer John Markovic won approval in the Land and Environment Court this month to build 54 units in Darby Street, and Wests Group has applied to build 166 apartments and 82 seniors units as part of a 14-storey, twin-towers proposal next door to its Wests City club.
Stronach Property has applied to build 172 units in its Mosbri Crescent complex, and non-profit group Interrelate plans to build 87 units across 14 floors on a narrow site in Hunter Street near Worth Place.
Newcastle builders are also being kept busy with inner-city commercial projects, including GWH's Darby Plaza, DOMA's Store offices and Core Project Group's Birdwood Business Centre.