An abandoned car sales yard in the heart of Brisbane is set to be transformed into a shopping precinct that will include a two-storey Bunnings Warehouse.

The hardware giant's plans for a 12,820-square-metre store at Woolloongabba has been approved by Brisbane City Council.

Artist impression of the Bunnings Warehouse proposed for Woolloongabba.

City Planning chairman Matthew Bourke said a car sales yard used to operate on the unused site at 73 Ipswich Road, but now empty buildings remained.

“The new building will include six retail stores on the ground floor and then a Bunnings Warehouse, complete with a garden centre, on the two floors above," he said.