Councillors offered glowing praise for the proposed complex, which would feature ground-floor retail outlets and laneway cafes, and office space on the second floor.

Two and three-bedroom apartments would make up the top two levels and there would be basement car parking.

“This is the type of development we are really trying to attract in our CBD,” Sandhurst Cr James Reade said.

“It’s around mixed-use, it’s around high-quality design, it’s around creating an environment where people can live within the urban surrounds of Bendigo.

“It is close to public transport, it is close to services and I think it is going to... change this area in terms of connecting the Marketplace and the CBD.”

There were initially two objections to the development but they were removed after consultation.

The development falls short of car parking requirements.

But councillors said the Edward Street multi-storey car park, due for completion later this year, reduced

the demand for car parks within the development.

North West Plains Cr Bruce Phillips said “this is the sort of mixed-use development that council has been seeking to reinvigorate, repopulate and enrich our city”.

Eaglehawk Cr Peter Cox said he had concerns about the design but the development was needed to cater for forecasted population growth.

Mayor Alec Sandner declared a conflict of interest and left the room ahead of the debate.

Councillors Lisa Ruffell and Keith Reynard were absent from last night’s meeting.

The developers will demolish a house Cr Sandner’s family used to own to make way for the development.

Bendigo developer Scott Jackman is the spokesman for the development.

He told the Bendigo Advertiser the project was in the design and detail phase.

Mr Jackman said agents would sell the apartments off the plan once the developers finalised designs.