Remarkables Park Ltd has applied for resource consent for a four-storey building in Remarkables Park Town Centre, Frankton.
The application to Lakes Environmental says the building's lower ground floor and ground floor would be occupied by Chipmunks, a children's play facility and cafe.
The first and second floors would be 16 accommodation units for students, residents or visitors.
The land, on Hawthorne Dr, is unoccupied.
The proposal includes 40 car parking spaces and seven signs.
The company's application says the building would not result in any significant adverse effects on the environment.
The Remarkables Park Zone design review board's report says the accommodation units, studios and four-bed apartments, were responding to demand from the developing Southern Institute of Technology campus at Remarkables Park.
The report says the building would exceed the 12m standard for the area but was less than the allowable height of 18m.
"It was generally accepted the building achieves good urban outcomes for a medium rise commercial building... However, [it] is less successful around the western and southern aspects of the building and there are consequential issues," it says.
The board questioned how the building would fit into a future precinct of buildings.
It said further design should be undertaken "to achieve a better pedestrian scale and more attractive architectural treatment".
The Lakes Environmental planner raised questions about earthworks, bus parking, signage, design and appearance.
