Plans for the multi-storey development on the former Callaghans Motors site on Fairy Street were first unveiled in March last year with the hope work could start within six months.

But COVID-19 shutdowns hit just weeks later and the ambitious timeline hit a snag.

Ludeman Real Estate director Mark Dwyer said the development was still going through the city council's planning processes.

"Probably because of the COVID situation it has delayed it a bit but I believe that it's headed forward fairly quickly," he said.

"It's going ahead definitely," he said.

"Everything is still full-steam ahead.

"It shouldn't be long before something will be released."

Plans for the Fairy Street site include 80 serviced apartments as well as office, commercial and retail space.

With the property market heating up in Warrnambool in the wake of the pandemic lockdowns, Mr Dwyer said that, if anything, the developers were "more happy with the Warrnambool idea".

"It is very exciting," he said.

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Former AFL footballer Jose Romero, who played for North Melbourne and Western Bulldogs, is the developer behind the project for the site which has sat vacant since the car business relocated to Raglan Parade in 2017.

The project includes two separate developments - a smaller stand-alone multi-storey building for commercial office space and car parking would be built on the former used-car portion of the site.

The rest will be an apartment complex which will be connected to a building for office space with some shops and car parking underneath.

The lease for the serviced apartments - which will include 34 studios, 36 one-bedroom and 10 two-bedroom apartments - had already been secured when the project was first announced.

"There's nothing like this being developed in Warrnambool and I've been in real estate 30 years," Mr Dwyer said last year.

"You won't see anything like this in Warrnambool for a long time.

"The only thing that will hold this up is planning."

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