A 270-metre skyscraper planned for George Street is approved as an addition to the Event Cinemas site, alongside a new boutique cinema.
The Central Sydney Planning Committee approved the development will replace the last major cinema in the city on Friday.
Only a boutique cinema is planned for the new development, sporting 507-serviced apartments.
Ten of the 17 submissions the committee received on the development raised concerns about the removal of the cinemas.
The building started life as a Hoyts complex, opening to much fanfare, including a performing elephant, in December 1976.
It was the biggest cinema complex in the world at the time, boasting seven screens and 4,333 seats.
It also occupied hallowed ground, having being built on the site of Sydney’s famous Trocadero Theatre.
The building is currently an Events Cinemas venue.
Event Hospitality and Entertainment CEO Jane Hastings said the site was being redeveloped as a mixed-use development.
"There are no plans at this stage to close the George Street cinemas," she said.
"As soon as Government restrictions are lifted and new release film product is available, we look forward to delivering a superior customer experience at this location."
City of Sydney historian Laila Ellmoos said before the 1970s cinemas in the CBD were as much a drawcard as the films they were showing.
"The cinemas were really luxurious and glamorous, especially in the city and I think that was what the appeal was," she said.
"People did dress up and wear hats and gloves, it was an event to go into town."
She said the southern end of George Street in between Central and Town Hall stations became cemented as a cinema strip in the mid-70s.
Picture shows were overhauled to compete with colour television, and the elegant picture palaces gave way to gaudy goggle-plexes.
"If you've got seven cinemas instead of one you're going to get more bang for buck," Me Ellmoos said.
The adjoining site to the south of the old Hoyts complex is also set for re-development with a more modest 43-storey tower.
This site was home to the Rapallo and Paramount Cinemas which were demolished in the 1980s.
Next to that was Australia’s first multiplex, the three-screen Village Cinema City, which opened in 1974, expanding to five screens by 1976.
The cinema closed in 2000 and was demolished to make way for Meriton Apartments.
