Bhavya Ahuja and partner Jivesh Kumar hope to open a new all-day breakfast cafe at the 2 Sturt Street address, a location left vacant since the previous long-term occupants moved to Mair Street in 2017.

Ms Ahuja, a pastry chef, and Mr Kumar, a chef, currently have a planning application lodged with the City of Ballarat to allow for works on a kitchen to the rear.

The new venue will be known as the Refuel Hub.

They also hope within time they will have some outdoor seating they can put out the front in the warmer months.

Ms Ahuja wants the venue to gain a license to serve alcohol further down the line, with mimosas and espresso martinis potentially to be added to the menu.

They plan to pay homage to the previous occupants by putting flower arrangements on the café walls. "We're going to keep the essence and the memory of it being a florist's shop," Ms Ahuja said.

The cafe's arrival is likely to bring more foot traffic to an area at the bottom of Sturt Street which has had a high vacancy rate in recent years.

It lies directly opposite Norwich Plaza, which could potentially be redeveloped if a proposal revealed earlier this year goes ahead.

Other new arrivals in the area include a Sturt Street Japanese restaurant, while a gym recently opened on Grenville Street.

The whole area around the Bridge Mall is receiving a major $17.6 million injection of council funding in an attempt to reverse the decline of a once thriving retail area.

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