A consortium of expatriate Chinese investors has won approval to build one of the largest residential developments in the Melbourne CBD.

The twin, 79-storey towers will contain 1,800 apartments, and 8,000sqm of office and retail space, including a childcare centre. There will be a mix of one to four-bedroom apartments.

"This is quite unique for the central city of Melbourne, and it speaks to the change in demographics," Planning Minister Richard Wynne said.

"No longer do we have couples or downsizers wanting to live in apartments in the CBD, we actually have families who want to live in apartments in the CBD and Docklands as well," said Wynne.

"We do not have an apartment glut," he said. "While there are mixed views about an oversupply, we have no evidence to that effect."

The syndicate, the 3L Alliance - all family names of the shareholders begin with 'L' - has commissioned Fender Katsalidis and Cox Architecture to design the project, which has been dubbed Queens Place.