Sheffield city councillors have given the green light to plans for a £65m mixed leisure, commercial and residential development.

The New Era Square development by New Era Development Ltd will transform an area between London Road and Bramall Lane, close to the city centre into a 21-storey building offering retail units, food and drink outlets on the ground floor, leading out to an open-air square for events, a large Chinese supermarket will span two levels, office space for professional service businesses, an exhibition hall and a China Business Incubator to enhance enterprise and trade between China and the UK.

From the third floor upward there will be approximately 700 student accommodation units, which will predominately be 30sqm studio rooms, plus micro-flats and student cluster flats.

Jerry Cheung, managing director of New Era Development (UK) Ltd, said: "We are absolutely delighted that New Era Square has been granted planning approval. This is the culmination of many years of hard work so it is the best possible news we could have hoped for.  

"New Era Square is a landmark development for the city of Sheffield that will see the area transformed into a cosmopolitan, international, multi-cultural square which is available to all. We want the area to become a central point for the whole community - something that will bring people together.

"As well as providing leisure and residential facilities, the China Business Incubator within the development will become a hub for promoting international trade, focusing on opportunities for businesses to increase their presence in China and to bring more inward business from the Far East."

The project, which has received significant inward investment from China, is set to create more than 400 new jobs once construction has been completed.