It's going to come as a bit of a shock to Novocastrians. Over the next year or so, six towers will rise to create a skyline in Newcastle West. Each will be higher than our current tallest buildings.
Maybe two more big ones will be close behind them.
The hope is that the completion of the eight towers, containing almost 1000 homes, will bring enough residents to restore activity on semi-derelict Hunter Street, and thereby encourage demand for more high-rise living in town.
Maybe this, finally, is the catalyst for general renewal of Newcastle West.
Newcastle's current tallest buildings are the two Verve towers on King Street, each 20 floors high.
Coming up next are the two buildings of GWH's One development on National Park and King streets, near Bank Corner. The project is next door to Verve.
The big southern building on the One site will have 23 floors, including the pavilion on top for outdoor entertainment with spectacular views. Its smaller sibling will have 16 floors.
Construction is well underway, with the podium structure complete and the towers rising above it.
The biggest project that's underway is The Store, on the Hunter Street site of the old Co-Op Store and next to Newcastle Interchange. Heights will be 31 floors for one tower and 29 for the other.
The foundations are done, and the ground floor has been poured.
These handsome buildings will be in the middle of what's supposed to be the new core of the city centre.
And developer Thirdi has begun building the Dairy Farmers twin towers, on the corner of that name. The company says piling works are 75 per cent complete, the ground slab should be poured this year, the podium completed early next year and the job finished in the second quarter of 2026.
One tower will be 30 floors high and the other 28.
The Store and Dairy Farmer buildings will be especially prominent from a distance, and the One towers will form an eye-catching cluster with Verve.
So, don't be surprised to see a remarkable new look for Newcastle West by 2026.
These developers have had to overcome the great challenge of high costs amid a severe national shortage of construction labour.
That's one reason why it's unwise for those of us watching city-centre progress to count unhatched chickens.
Nonetheless, we can guess that the 20-storey Watervue project, on the corner of Hunter and Steel streets and close to Verve, may be the next one to start. The site has been cleared, and marketing money has been spent. (The developer, Bloc, was unable to provide a schedule update in time for publication.)
And, next to the Interchange in Wickham, developer Multipart has already spent heavily on the deep basement for its attractive Bowline building of 17 floors.
This project has had troubles. It's had to overcome water leakage, and this year was stalled by the collapse of its construction contractor. The crane erected this year for work to proceed is still there, however.
Because building costs are high, as are interest rates, we can hardly be sure that the current boom in activity will continue. In the three decades since inner-city redevelopment began, some quiet periods have lasted for years.
Nonetheless, the current boom will itself be helpful in keeping the show on the road, by bringing in more residents.
Developers and their marketing agents have succeeded in selling all these flats in an area with wonderful views and proximity to the harbour, but hardly any amenity at ground level.
On Hunter Street, shop space after shop space is closed, and not just because buildings are awaiting redevelopment: there's hardly any foot traffic.
I admire the apartment marketers for overcoming that disadvantage.
The arrival of at least 1500 residents in the new batch of buildings will surely help change the situation. They'll want more restaurants, cafes, bars and assorted shops, and that should make it easier for later developers to sell apartments and get projects underway.
Consider the concentration of people we're about to get: the six towers now under construction are on or next to a stretch of Hunter Street just 600 metres long, and the two immediately prospective developments are close to it. There must also be unmet demand for local retailing and food-and-beverage from densifying Wickham.
The project we now really want to see underway is the one for the site of what was (depending on your age) Spotlight, Waltons or Marcus Clarke. An attractive twin-tower design called West Village with 257 units was approved last year, but the site has since been sold and the new owner, Bloc, has been expected to propose a new design.
We should hope that the appearance of the towers will not suffer. One of our challenges is to ensure that the rebuilt city centre isn't filled with ordinary, perhaps ugly, buildings for the next century or more.
In case there is any difficulty in making the numbers add up for a good-looking development, here's a suggestion: make it bigger. The approval authorities, including Newcastle council, should be willing to let Bloc go much higher if it wants.
The zoning guideline for the site provides for 30 storeys (after routine bonuses), but the Store and One projects will exceed their limits.
No one cares. It just isn't a problem.
There is indeed no reason not to allow much higher buildings in Newcastle West. This column has previously argued for a 60 floor minimum on the Spotlight site and others.
We really want to see this project go ahead as soon as possible. When it happens, it will help fill that 600 metre stretch down to Dairy Farmers Corner. It will bring more activity to Hunter Street and make it easier for later developments to go ahead.
