The final piece of the $880 million East End puzzle has been unveiled with a winning design incorporating residential, retail and an open space up to Christ Church Cathedral.
Iris Capital revealed the design for stages three and four of its redevelopment at 3 Morgan Street and 22 Newcomen Street - a collaboration between architectural firms SJB, Durbach Block Jaggers and Curious Practice chosen from a competition.
The winning design features 235 dwellings across five buildings, 1,731 square metres of retail space and about 300 car parks. It has an estimated construction cost of more than $150 million.
It follows the completed first stage between Perkins and Wolfe streets which included the QT hotel, Perkins & King, Washington and Fabric houses and the second stage from Wolfe to Thorn Street under construction.
Iris Capital CEO Sam Arnaout said lessons from the first phase of the project had informed the latter stages.
"I feel we've delivered on our promise with stage one," he said. "And any shortcomings from buyer demands, particularly the bigger downsize apartment, we feel that's something we can do better in stages three and four.
"There's going to be rooftop pools, gyms, wellness centres, saunas and steam rooms. It's going to be amazing. It's going to make people feel like they need to move from stage one into stage four."
The plan includes an open corridor from the harbour to Christ Church Cathedral. A partnership between Iris and Newcastle council to create a proposed "stairway to heaven" on the corridor was previously floated, but didn't come to fruition. However deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen said the design left the door open for council to pursue the project.
"We've really seen something that's quite complimentary," Cr Clausen said "Our options remain open to ensure that we can we can protect and secure that corridor."
Council is undertaking public domain works including bike paths and road upgrades to complement the private development.
"I think it's fair to say that the mall was embarrassment for the city for quite a number of years," Cr Clausen said. "It had gone through a stage of significant decay, and it required substantial investment in order to see a benefit like this."
SJB director Adam Haddow said their aim of the design was also to breath life into the precinct.
"We want the east end to become again the living room for Novocastrians," he said. "Hunter Street should be the bustling area where people come out and sit and meet friends."
Mr Haddow said he was determined to win the design competition, having worked on the mall project for more than 10 years through former owner Urban Growth.
"Through the more than 10 years of coming up here we've bought an apartment in Newcastle," he said. "I honestly think it's one of the best cities in the country. We're going to invest our heart and soul in this project."
Mr Arnaout said he hoped for a development application to be lodged this year, followed by an expected construction timeframe of three years.
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