Developers have lodged plans for two 90-metre towers on the former Spotlight site in Newcastle West, defying a downturn in the housing market.
The $116 million West Village redevelopment includes 258 apartments, an "open-air" bar, commercial space and parking for 300 cars across two buildings facing National Park Street.
The St Hilliers/Spotlight Property Group joint venture has lodged separate development applications for the two buildings after running a design competition this year.
Stage one of the project includes a 26-storey tower on the corner of Hunter and National Park streets.
The equally tall stage two is on the corner of National Park and King streets.
The redevelopment is across the road from GWH Group's 22-storey ONE Apartments under construction on the former Musos Corner and Proski site.
The developers hope to build the two Spotlight site towers with "some concurrency" but say the staging of construction depends on market conditions.
The twin development applications come as Newcastle apartment prices remain relatively stable amid a national and Hunter housing market downturn.
Data from property analysts CoreLogic show house prices in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie fell 6 per cent in the September quarter while unit prices fell 1.9 per cent.
Newcastle real estate agent Ryan Houston, a partner at PRD, said people were buying apartments to downsize their mortgages as interest rates increased.
But the typical apartment took longer to sell, at 58 days, than the average house (49 days) in the September quarter, and apartment vendors had to discount more than house sellers to make a sale in the past two quarters.
The St Hilliers/Spotlight development application is based on Plus Architecture's winning entry in the design competition, which was run under the NSW government's design excellence process.
The curvy 90-metre towers, if approved, will almost match the height of the nearby Store and Dairy Farmers Corner apartment redevelopments in Hunter Street.
The developer plans to start construction in late 2023 and finish in 2025.
Spotlight executive deputy chairman Zac Fried said last year that his father, Ruben, had bought the site in 1988.
Spotlight and the Anaconda store moved to Bennetts Green two years ago.
