Newcastle’s Empire Hotel site to remain vacant after plans for apartments scrapped
The site of Newcastle's Empire Hotel is to remain undeveloped for the time being after plans for high-rise apartment building the Onyx were shelved.
Developer Warwick Miller, from Verve apartments, blamed the abrupt decision on slow sales and has refunded clients' deposits with interest and agreed to pay "reasonable" legal fees.
"I figure there's no point in us hovering around for a year and keeping people going in the hope that we'll eventually sell enough to start it," he told the Newcastle Post.
"These sunset clauses are such that can you imagine paying a deposit on a unit and not seeing it start for two years. I don't think that's fair to the buyers."
Newcastle unit prices are in decline, falling eight per cent since their peak, according to data from property analysts CoreLogic.
Miller said harbour-side units would continue to attract strong interest, but it was harder to attract buyers for "B-grade" apartment projects.
"It's very hard for me to imagine, and this is me talking, anybody starting a new project in B-grade residential in the town," he said.
The empty Empire Hotel site was demolished by the government nearly a decade ago after falling into disrepair.
The next proposal for the site would be for student accommodation, according to Miller.
12th March 2019
