A proposal for a 100,000-square-foot shopping center in downtown Las Vegas moved forward Wednesday with support from the City Council.

The council voted unanimously in favor of a site development plan review for the proposed center near Casino Center Boulevard and Stewart Avenue.

The shopping center, on 3.46 acres of city land, would also include a six-story parking garage to accommodate about 400 vehicles, according to developer CIM Group.

It’s part of a broader, long-term effort to revive the area along Third Street between Ogden Avenue and U.S. Highway 95, north of the Fremont Street Experience tourist corridor, an area called Downtown Third.

The overall improvement effort includes the privately owned Downtown Grand resort, which is set to open next month in the renovated shell of the former Lady Luck and the city-sponsored Mob Museum in the former federal courthouse on Stewart Avenue.

“Having spent the last three years of my life in the area we do see this as the final completion of Downtown Third,” Seth Schorr, said CEO of Fifth Street Gaming, which operates Downtown Grand.

CIM Group owns the Downtown Grand and has an agreement to develop the city property with the shopping center along with an option to buy the land once the project is complete.

The vote Wednesday approves a site plan for the shopping center and gives CIM Group until September 2014 to pull permits for demolition of the former bus terminal on the site and begin construction, said Justin Gardinier of CIM Group. The construction would likely take another 12 to 18 months to complete, he said.

The shopping center doesn’t yet have a list of approved tenants, according to the developers. They said it will likely include a national retailer as an anchor tenant and space for several others.

About 80,000 square feet is expected to be retail, another 15,000 will be for professional meetings.

Schorr said the meeting space will be a much needed addition to downtown, which lacks modern convention space.

“It is a great amenity to our hotel,” Schorr said. “Having meeting space really brings a whole other guest to the area.”

A traffic study included with the application estimated the shopping center would result in an additional 3,435 vehicle trips per day on Stewart Avenue, Fourth Street and Casino Center, an increase of about five cars per minute during the peak hour.

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285. Follow him on Twitter @BenSpillman702.