Plans have been submitted for a modern new Mill Markets building, at the front of the existing market site on the Western Freeway at Warrenheip.
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The planned eye-catching sleek grey arched building could become a feature entrance to Ballarat, sitting in the council's nominated 'gateway precinct' on the freeway.
The proposed two-storey building would have space for 70 retail market display areas, a restaurant including indoor and alfresco dining, with a first floor mezzanine level housing a board room and office area.
Market stalls would move across from the existing market sheds behind the new building.
Under the planning application, the new building would be constructed on the site where the Sole Mates footwear store currently stands.
"The purpose-built market and food and beverage facility will introduce a high-quality built form to the site and will act to enhance the amenity of the site and surrounding area," planners Beveridge Williams state in the planning application on the City of Ballarat website.
The Mill Markets site forms part of council's Woodmans Hill Gateway Precinct with a master plan to guide future development of the area.
The Western Freeway has been earmarked for a major upgrade at the intersection of Brewery Tap Road and Old Melbourne Road, and nearby a planning permit application has been submitted for a 119-room Holiday Inn hotel complex.
In July, councillors voted to defer a decision over the Holiday Inn application, concluding a more detailed officers report would be needed before they could determine the application for the hotel just off the Western Highway at 63 Mahers Rd.
A massive 12 hectare site on the northern side of the highway, comprising four separate properties, was recently on the market near the Brewery Tap Road intersection and touted as having big promise to change the key entrance to Ballarat.
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The new Mill Market planning application comes after a previous application in November 2020 which would have seen a new market building built off Old Melbourne Road. That proposal will now not go ahead.
According to the planning applications, the new Mill Markets building will have "contemporary facade treatments" and a muted palette of materials and finishes including precast concrete panelling, stone retaining walls and planters, and aluminium window and door trimmings.
"The proposal will contribute to a high-quality urban environment and a sense of place within Warrenheip by relocating an established market facility (The Amazing Mill Markets) to a highly accessible purpose-designed site," the report states.
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