In June 2012 it was announced that the pedestrian mall between Perkins and Newcomen Streets will be redeveloped by the public and private sectors to stimulate the city's ongoing revitalisation.

[3] West of Perkins Street, the Australian Agricultural Company owned a separate track that ran to what is today Bank Corner.

As well as department stores, picture palaces also began to punctuate Hunter Street in the years leading up to World War II.

In the decade that followed World War II, the rapid suburbanisation of Newcastle created unprecedented competition for traditional retail areas.

In this year, with the vacancy rate at 20% and chronically vacant properties beginning to deteriorate, Marcus Westbury created the Renew Newcastle initiative to activate empty shop fronts in and around the Hunter Street Mall.

East of Auckland Street, near City Hall, independent coffee shops, restaurants and small bars have been appearing along the streetscape since 2009.

According to the Newcastle Herald in July 2013, the Hunter Street vacancy rate is less than half that of 2008 and business confidence has improved in precincts east of City Hall.