The three hectare space is nestled between the rapidly growing Wickham, the transport interchange and bustling Honeysuckle, and the NSW Government said it was looking to create a "new and vibrant destination" through its re-development.

The Honeysuckle HQ site incorporates the Histopath COVID testing site, which was previously a car park and the old Wickham School of Arts building.

Local builder developer Thirdi Group has had their eyes on the project for years, and the company's co-founder and director Luke Berry said they had brought in world-leading architects and town planners to ensure their best was put into their application.

The company has developed several sites in the nearby precinct, including Stella on Hannell at Wickham and the Dairy Farmers Towers, where construction will start this year.

But Mr Berry believes the site should be more than just residential, with vision for commercial, food and beverage and entertainment too.

"We see this as a strategic piece of the Newcastle CBD," he said. "The iconic nature of the land demands that it becomes a destination. There needs to be a holistic bid to activate that land."

He said the light rail already ticked a big box for accessibility, and that it had the potential to draw in domestic and international tourism.

Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp said it was vital the precinct was future-proofed, including provision for the expansion of the ferry service to Wickham.

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He said the publicity surrounding the development had set "very high expectations in the community".

"Given the standard of previous planning approvals and architecture in the earlier developments you would certainly hope the bar would be significantly raised," he said. "This is an opportunity to secure the future of the former Wickham School of Arts once-and-for-all, and deliver on the open space and accessibility that the community has made clear that they want. We have once chance to get this right - let's have no regrets."

The Hunter and Central Coast Development Corporation is leading the project. The expression of interest follows a market-sounding exercise last year, with the best proposals undergoing a detailed design process before a winning bid is picked next year.

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