The building a few doors down from the Bendigo cinema at 119 Queen Street would come complete with four ground-floor business spaces including a cafe.

Project backers have lodged plans for the building with the City of Greater Bendigo.

They say it would be among the first buildings designed in line with a new council city centre policy allowing the edge of the city centre to be a "mixed use" zone where businesses and homes co-exist.

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The building would include 18 apartments and developers say it would help the council drive up the number of people living in the city centre.

The council wants 3000 people living in the area by 2031, up from 700 in 2014.

Residents would park cars in a 26-space basement and businesses would get five on the ground level, as well as 22 spaces for bicycles.

The building's most striking feature would be the large "circular framing elements" facing out onto nearby streets.

Developers want them for "visual interest" for the "high quality architectural development" that blends in with nearby commercial and residential buildings but is "unashamedly contemporary".

They believe it will create a good contrast with heritage areas nearby.

The building would be 18.5 metres high at its tallest point, which would be 4.5 metres higher than what council policies suggest.

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Developers have cited other city documents that leave the door open to the occasional taller building depending on how they might look at individual sites.

Developers have told the council's planning department they do not anticipate any problems with residents being able to see into other people's properties.

They say the properties are too far away from their building site for that to become an issue.

A number of buildings would need to be demolished to make way for the new building including an old weatherboard house at 86 King Street.

The building is understood not to be covered by a heritage overlay, though others in the area are.

The project would be one of a slew of new multi-storey buildings slated for the city centre.

Three notable buildings include hotels in the centre of town, including in the Hargreaves Mall and along Williamson Street.

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