Hobsonville Point on Auckland's north-western outskirts could go high-rise if an application to build a 15-level block on the waterfront overlooking the wharf and ferry terminal is allowed.

Auckland Council has notified Marlborough Precinct Holdings' application to build the block on the site near the Royal New Zealand Air Force base at Whenuapai.

The block exceeds the 16m maximum height for the site by 40.8m, according to a report prepared for the council. That means the block could be about 13 storeys above the maximum height limit.

If allowed, the tower will be built beside Hobsonville Point's new town centre hub on Launch Rd East at the estate where 4500 new residences are rising for a forecast population of about 10,000 people.

Submissions can be made here.

The submission period closes on July 20.

The block is proposed for a site of four married officers' houses, Catalina Hangar, Catalina Barracks and the existing H.L.C. offices.

Chris Aiken, chief executive of Housing NZ subsidiary Homes. Land. Community. which is in charge of the development, said Kerepeti was the tallest block so far and it was seven levels high.

"But it doesn't surprise me that people are trying to get extra height near the waterfront. People are trying to get more density," Aiken said of the housing estate's popularity and swift off-the-plan sales.

Marlborough's application says it wants to build 101 new dwellings with a two-level 147-vehicle basement carpark in the Sunderland Precinct, 258-268 Hobsonville Point Rd.

Its plans are for a housing super-lot and the new tower block "will provide for a marker building at the harbour entrance to the Hobsonville Point Regeneration area which is catering for approximately 4500 new homes and is an exemplar of providing vibrant high density housing that has a true richness in terms of built variety," according to a report to the council from planning and resource management business Campbell Brown.

Written approval was given by adjacent precincts of Catalina Bay and Harrier Point and extensive consultation was undertaken with the NZ Defence Force and the Civil Aviation Authority, the report said. Consultation was also undertaken with adjacent owners of the new Airfields Precinct.

Consent is being sought for three buildings on the super lot: "The two apartment buildings range in height from three to 15 storeys and would cater for 97 apartments comprising 22 one-bedrooms, 55 two-bedrooms and 20 three-bedrooms and the three-storey terrace along the northern boundary with Hudson Bay Rd would provide for four three-bedroom townhouses," the report said.

Airspace restrictions apply because of the location near Whenuapai Air Base. The report on the proposed high-rise development noted those restrictions and said the tall proposed apartment block "sits just below the height plane".