Building on Brownfield Sites

The University of Newcastle is investing in the renewal of previously developed urban land to expand education and community facilities. In November 2025, the University completed Gosford Central at 305 Mann Street on the site of the former Mitre 10 hardware store, transforming an underused commercial property into a new campus in the heart of Gosford.

Gosford Central: building on a previously developed site

The new campus occupies land within the 299–309 Mann Street redevelopment site. The University’s environmental impact statement identifies an earlier Gosford Cooperative Citrus Packing House, which operated from the 1920s until 1989, followed by the Mitre 10 hardware store. The premises had been vacant since 2010. Redeveloping this already-used site provided an opportunity to establish a modern educational facility within the existing city centre rather than expand into previously undeveloped land.

The NSW Government’s 2023 development approval confirmed that the University would build on the former Mitre 10 site. The project was delivered through a partnership involving the University of Newcastle, the Australian and NSW governments, and the Hunter and Central Coast Development Corporation, which provided the land. The site’s location near Gosford railway station, transport connections, businesses and the Central Coast Clinical School supports access to education within an established urban precinct.

A completed University development in 2025

In March 2025, the project reached its topping-out milestone, marking completion of the main building structure.

In November 2025, construction was complete and the University had received the keys, ahead of students commencing in Semester 1, 2026. This provides a clear 2025 example of the University building on previously developed land.

The completed four-storey Gosford Central building provides approximately 4,550 m² of space, including 884 m² of teaching areas, 762 m² of learning and social areas, 315 m² of offices, and an industry and community engagement space for 100 people. Funding comprised $31.3 million from the University and $18 million each from the Australian and NSW governments. The development expands the University’s Central Coast presence alongside Ourimbah and Gosford Hospital.

An earlier brownfield development at Honeysuckle

The University has also built on previously developed land at Newcastle City Campus. Q Building at the Honeysuckle precinct stands on brownfield land at the corner of Worth Place and Honeysuckle Drive. Completed in 2021, it provides teaching, creative industries and innovation facilities, demonstrating an earlier example of urban land reuse within the University’s city-campus development programme.

Further renewal at Gosford: student accommodation announced in 2026

In April 2026, the University announced a separate student accommodation project to repurpose the former Central Coast Council Administration Building at 49–51 Mann Street. The proposed conversion provides 127 student beds in single studios and cluster apartments, with additional teaching and support facilities for the Wollotuka Institute and the University of Newcastle Student Association, and a multipurpose event space. Works were scheduled to begin in July 2026, with accommodation planned to welcome students in 2028. This is a future adaptive-reuse initiative, distinct from Gosford Central’s completed 2025 development.

^{Artist’s impression of the proposed 127-bed Gosford student accommodation at 49–51 Mann Street.}

By completing Gosford Central on a former commercial site in 2025, the University demonstrated how established urban land can be given a new educational purpose. Its broader city-campus developments continue to contribute to accessible learning and the revitalisation of Newcastle and the Central Coast.

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