The £450m scheme involves demolishing the old Central Library and constructing 10 new buildings around a series of new squares and streets in the heart of the city.

At 1.8m sq ft it is one of the UK’s largest city centre planning applications submitted this year.

Paradise Circus is the first scheme to come forward within Birmingham’s new Enterprise Zone, which will get £60m for infrastructure in the area.

Argent will now submit detailed planning for the first phase in late 2013/early 2014.

The redevelopment proposal is based on the Birmingham Conservatoire moving a short distance to Louisa Ryland House on Edmund Street, with a new minimum 450 seat concert hall to replace the existing Adrian Boult Hall being created.

The redevelopment of Paradise Circus will create a series of new linked pedestrian streets and squares and provide a traffic free setting for the Grade I Listed Town Hall.

Argent’s Senior Project Director Rob Groves said: “The redevelopment of Paradise Circus has the potential to make the most significant impact on the city centre for a generation.

“The site’s combined qualities of its central location and historic landmarks creates an unrivalled opportunity to create a sustainable, first class environment that will transform this key part of Birmingham city centre.”