Hoards of people made their way to Green Hills on Thursday to get their first glimpse of the new-look Stockland shopping centre.

Stockland officially opened stage one of its $412 million redevelopment this week, which was a major landmark in the project that will double the size of the centre and create a shopping precinct somewhere between the sizes of Westfield Kotara and Charlestown Square.

Fourteen retailers opened as part of the unveiling of the first stage, including Just Cuts, Cruise Travel, L’Amore Nails, Toto Sushi, Blooms the Chemist, Best & Less and The Reject Shop.

Just Cuts team leader Vicki Kirkland said the new-look section was “wonderful”.

“There are lots of people, it’s looking really good, for the area it’s great – it’s just going to be wonderful for the area overall,” she said.

“If this is a showcase of what’s to come, it’s going to be major.”

According to Stockland, the project will generate more than 2600 jobs, including 1200 flow-on positions for suppliers in the Hunter.

Stockland’s design and development general manager Tim Beattie said the opening of stage one was a step towards turning the Green Hills centre into a thriving destination that would be “the pride of the Hunter”.

“In addition to delivering a much-improved shopping experience for our customers, we’re proud to say that our $412 million investment is creating thousands of new jobs for the local region and creating an important multiplier effect on the regional economy,” he said.

Maitland Mayor Peter Blackmore, Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison and Paterson MP Meryl Swanson were among those given a tour stage one and a glimpse of the ongoing construction zone on Thursday.

Cr Blackmore said he was happy to see Stockland’s investment and confidence in Maitland.

“Today is an exciting moment for our community,” he said. “I am pleased to see such great progress on the redevelopment.”

Ms Aitchison said she was pleased that the redevelopment would provide more employment in the region, while Ms Swanson said the revamp would provide a boost for the local economy.

Stage two will be unveiled later this year and the remainder of the project is expected to be complete in mid 2018.