Three towers have emerged on the former Royal Newcastle Hospital site and new public areas between the surf and streets unveiled.

Residents including families and first-home buyers have begun moving into the six-and eight-storey towers facing Shortland Esplanade.

A spokesman for developer Mirvac said in the next two weeks scaffolding was set to come off a third, tower at the rear of the site.

Known as the McCaffery building, it will include 88 Sebel hotel rooms and a penthouse that sold off the plan in November 2008 for $4.495 million, a Newcastle apartment price record.

The $190 million stage one of the Royal Newcastle development is due for completion in October, two months ahead of schedule.

The spokesman said about $1 million would be spent on public works.

This included a landscaped walkway between King Street and Shortland Esplanade, offering views of the surf .

Mirvac development NSW and Victoria chief executive officer John Carfi said the Royal development was creating a renewed sense of place on its prominent Newcastle beachfront site.

"The group is proud to be playing a prominent role in Newcastle's new urban dynamic and cosmopolitan renewal," he said.