The value of approved development applications (DAs) and complying development certificates (CDCs) topped $875 million in the 2015/16 financial year, up from $517.7 million in 2014/15. Another bumper 12 months is expected to follow with $106 million in building go-aheads in the first month of the financial year and $270 million in applications awaiting determination. 

The figures show that the City of Newcastle is booming.

Newcastle is on the cusp of transitioning from a great regional city to an emerging global city and we are doing our bit as a council to attract investment, jobs and opportunity. 

In the past few weeks we have seen DAs lodged totalling well over $100 million for a hotel and adjacent block for seniors in the West End and a $90 million overhaul of the Westfield at Kotara.

The Newcastle CBD saw development totalling $289 million approved in 2015/16. 

DA approvals, including GPT and Urban Growth's $223 million plan for 500-plus apartments and commercial and retail space in the East End, accounted for $272 million. 

The value of complying development certificates in the CBD was $17 million for the year.

Complying development allows low-impact work, such as renovations and granny flats, to be approved faster than the usual DA process. 

This private certifier-approved work almost tripled to $179.7 million last financial year, up from $68.7 million on the previous one, while the overall value of DA consents shot up to $695.7 million from $449 million, an increase of 55 per cent.