Penthouses, rooftop pool in revised development plan for 990 Hunter Street in Newcastle West

New Lambton-based planners SLR Consulting recently submitted an application to Newcastle council on behalf of a Sydney-based client to modify an existing plan for 990 Hunter Street.

The site is the first block of land east of the rail overpass near Wickham Park. The development was first proposed as a 13-storey, 76-unit complex in mid-2016, but was last year revised to 60 units with the developer ditching studio apartments in favour of two and three-bedroom units only.

The latest proposal, a $24 million development, is similar but includes two penthouses which take the building's overall height to 46 metres and 15 storeys.

The proposed development has a gross floor area of 7039 square metres, including 603 square metres of communal space.

Under the plans an outdoor infinity pool would be built on level 10, which overlooks Wickham Park and has views to the harbour.

The two four-bedroom penthouses would be set back from the below levels and feature a mostly glass-pane exterior. They would have their own private pools.

The development also includes three ground-level commercial spaces and a multi-level car park with spaces for 90 cars, 91 bicycles and eight motorcycles.

When it was first proposed, the development was described as the new western "gateway" to the city centre.

"You'll see it and you'll know you've arrived in the city," Benjamin Young, managing director of KDC - the planners that worked on the original proposal - told the Newcastle Herald in 2016.

"It's not CBD living but it's edge-of-city living. There's a demand from young families who want to be in the city."

An expressions-of-interest sales campaign was launched in late 2017 to sell 990 Hunter Street and the property is understood to have changed hands at least once in the years since. Valuer General records indicate it was sold for $3.2 million last June. The Newcastle Herald has been told the Sydney-based developer revised the plans in an effort to attract more owner-occupiers, rather than investors. The latest DA has been lodged on behalf of 990 Hunter Street Pty Ltd, a company registered in 2018 with a Camellia address. Lan Lan Yu is the sole director.

The site is at the western end of a stretch of properties on Hunter Street's northern side earmarked for redevelopment. Thirdi Group is working on plans for a 90-metre apartment building on the nearby Dairy Farmers Corner site while Doma has approval for twin buildings of a similar height adjacent Newcastle Interchange.

The 990 Hunter Street plans are on exhibition until Tuesday, September 21.

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