Newcastle’s most generous height limit is not quite tall enough for the company behind the $200 million Store redevelopment.
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Doma Group’s plans for the Newcastle West site include two 99-metre residential towers, easily the tallest in the city and nine metres above the height limit for the site.
A concept plan submitted last week to Newcastle City Council includes up to 350 apartments in the two 30-storey towers, a five-storey car park, bus interchange and 12-storey office building, also the largest in Newcastle.
Documents accompanying the concept plan show Doma proposes to create several cafe-lined public spaces, known as Brewery Lane, Cooper Plaza, Interchange Square and Rail Line Park, in what is designed to be the centrepiece of Newcastle’s new central business district.
The plan applies for an extra nine metres of height above that prescribed in the Newcastle Local Environment Plan on the grounds that the “overall massing, scale, bulk and height of the proposed development is consistent with the desired future character envisioned for the West End Precinct”.
“The variations allow for the orderly and economic use of the land in an appropriate manner, whilst allowing for a better outcome based on planning merits and public benefit,” it argues.
“Council can be satisfied that compliance with the development standard is unreasonable or unnecessary in the circumstances of the proposed development and that there are sufficient environmental planning grounds to justify contravening the development standards.”
The variation would allow three more floors of apartments than would be allowed under the LEP, though the overall development has a floor-space ratio of 4.9:1, less than the 5:1 ratio allowable on the site.
In a letter to Hunter and Central Coast Development Corporation in July, the director of design excellence at the NSW Government Architect’s office, Olivia Hyde, said the plan’s designers, Bates Smart, were “highly regarded and have a track record of delivering design excellence”.
“Notwithstanding the lack of a competitive design process, the chosen scheme is one that the GA believe to be of a high standard and is capable of achieving design excellence through further design development,” Ms Hyde wrote.
Doma’s application says the extra height will be “difficult to detect” visually and will not cause an unreasonable amount of overshadowing of neighbouring properties.
The proposed 12-storey office building next door is significantly lower than the 90 metres allowed on the site.
The concept plan says the development has been designed as a “family of forms” to minimise the bulk of the buildings “with slender residential towers and smaller floorplates”.
“The proposed development has been designed by Bates Smart Architects and consists of a number of high-quality, architecturally designed buildings that make a positive contribution to the West End of Newcastle, which respond to the heritage context.
“The proposed development will improve the vitality, identify and diversity of Newcastle City Centre by revitalising ‘The Store’ site, which has fallen into disrepair and disuse.”
The Hunter and Central Coast Regional Planning Panel is the consent authority for the various stages of the redevelopment.
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