The car park area off Harrop St will be turned into a public space as part of the upgrade of the Dunedin Town Hall and Dunedin Centre.
Plans for the area show grass and trees on the car park site, but Opus architect Jeff Thompson said more work was still to be done.
Council strategy and development general manager Kate Styles said she hoped work would begin early next year, and would hopefully be finished within two years.
The town hall would be kept open for as long as possible, but would close from about May next year until the project was completed.
The Glenroy Auditorium would also be closed during building, and the Metro Theatre would be closed for about four months, and then intermittently.
After building, it would be retained on the site.
The council's property department would have to shift from the Municipal Chambers to the Civic Centre permanently, and the Visitor Centre would move temporarily.
Harrop St would be closed to through traffic, but remain open to service vehicles and pedestrians.
The taxi waiting area would be moved to upper Stuart St
