It was home to an abattoir and a now-defunct government agency but an empty block of land in east Bendigo  is slated for an unprecedented development which proponents say will transform the city. 

Birchgrove Property managing director Damien Tangey said the Lansell Crest development would provide a range of housing types and promote more intensive residential development close to Bendigo’s “key activity centres and major transport corridors”.

“[The site] is shovel ready and has no constraint,” Mr Tangey said. “This is a great example of how the reuse of an inner urban brownfields site can provide new housing stock and choice to the Bendigo community.”

City of Greater Bendigo councillors voted on Wednesday night to lift a cap on the number of houses which could be built on the site from 65.

Development plans show 105 homes slated for construction – 25 of them two-bedroom dwellings, 44 three-bedroom terrace dwellings, 28 four-bed townhouses and seven five-bedroom townhouses. 

Councillor and real estate agent Elise Chapman said the development would provide options for both first-home buyers and those seeking something more upmarket. 

“This is going to be an innovative project unlike anything Bendigo has ever seen, there is going to be a variety of sizes and style and also a variety based on price,” Cr Chapman said. 

Others were less impressed with the plan for medium- to high-density living.

“The phrase packed in like sardines does come to mind,” councillor Helen Leach said. 

But council has identified unlocking key medium-density sites of scale as a central feature of its new “compact city” plan. Mr Tangey said Birchgrove’s market feedback showed significant interest in new and more diverse inner-urban dwellings.

“With a housing market in the order of 1000 new homes per annum in Bendigo, this [development] represents only 1 per cent of the annual demand,” he said. 

The city’s planning and development director Prue Mansfield said the Lansell Street site was considered a key development site.

“The proposed change in the planning rules for this site will allow for more homes to be built there,” she said.

“An advanced concept plan that sets out how the area will be developed, including design, housing type, access and open space, is included as part of the process to consider the changes.  

“Assuming the planning minister approves the start of the change process, the city will publicly exhibit the proposed changes and seek community comment.”