The company behind the massive Hunter Street Mall redevelopment has launched the final two stages of the project.
Iris has lodged a development application with City of Newcastle to demolish the buildings on its remaining land between Hunter and King streets and is embarking on a design competition for the site.
The 6450-square metre site represents stages three and four of the EastEnd project and will include new buildings in Hunter Street in front of the council-owned Mall parking garage, along Newcomen Street and in King Street across the road from the Newcastle Club.
Iris chief executive Sam Arnaout said on Monday that the company hoped to start demolition and mine grouting in the second half of the year.
Iris has completed stage one of the 1.6-hectare EastEnd complex, including the Fabric House, Washington House and Perkins & King apartments, shops, restaurants, QT Hotel and a supermarket.
Stage two, between Wolfe and Thorn streets, is under construction.
Mr Arnaout said he had completed talks with the council about redeveloping the Mall car park site without reaching an agreement and would press on with stages three and four as outlined in a concept plan approved by the NSW government in 2016 and modified in 2017.
"They're at an end and have been for some time," he said of the council negotiations.
"We are moving on with our already approved master plan."
The council is demolishing the King Street car park.
It had hoped to reach a deal for Iris to redevelop the site with room for public parking and the council's proposed "stairway to heaven" linking Queens Wharf with Christ Church Cathedral.
The lack of an agreement between Iris and City of Newcastle appears to have killed off the stairway plan.
"I'm still hopeful that council will continue with the vision for creating a harbour to cathedral connection, but I'm unsure as to what their intent is," Mr Arnaout said. "Two years on, I've got to move on."
A City of Newcastle spokesperson said the council would engage external consultants to develop plans for the car park site, including retaining public car parking spaces.
"We will engage with the public along the way to ensure the community is consulted and has a chance to provide feedback," the spokesperson said.
"City of Newcastle remains committed to bringing to life a long-held strategic vision to open up the view corridor and access between the harbour and Cathedral Park to deliver a world-class public space for residents and visitors to enjoy."
The demolition work for the final stages of the Iris development will take about six months, but the company will retain historic building facades on Hunter Street, as it has done in other parts of the project.
One of the buildings is a late-Victorian structure listed on the State Heritage Inventory as an item of local significance.
Mr Arnaout said he hoped to lodge a development application for the new buildings early next year and finish construction in 2025.
"Fundamentally it will be across four separate buildings," he said.
He said 96 per cent of the apartments in stage two had sold and the buildings could be finished early next year.
The overall EastEnd development will include about 560 apartments and cost an estimated $700 million, making it the largest single apartment development in the city's history.
