The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) board has unanimously approved a final assessment for db Group's proposed City Centre project.
Having secured the environmental regulator's approval, the revised mega-project in Pembroke must now pass muster at the Planning Authority before it can go ahead.
The ERA's final assessment of the project will now be submitted to the PA to be taken into consideration when deciding on the project's revised development application.
The €250 million City Centre project, to be built on the site of the former Institute for Tourism Studies, has been dogged with controversy since its inception.
The mega-development includes a residential tower, hotel and shopping complex. It was approved by the PA in September 2018 but the permit was later revoked over a conflict of interest concerning one of the planning board members.
New downscaled plans have since been presented, but these continued to face widespread opposition by NGOs, local councils and residents' groups who argue that the project's excessive scale will engulf the surrounding areas and damage the natural environment.
The ERA said that it had requested an environmental planning statement and other appropriate assessments of the original plans. These were sent for revision once the proposal was downscaled.
An assessment of the updated documentation led the ERA directorate to conclude that the level of significance of environmental impacts caused by the mega-project would remain unchanged.
ERA said that its findings from its original environmental impact assessment and appropriate assessments were therefore still valid.
ERA chairman Victor Axiak has come in for criticism from nine NGOs over his handling of this project and others, with the civil society groups calling for him to be removed from his post.
Axiak, who has received the backing of Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia, responded to critics by saying he had always acted according to his conscience and followed advice given by experts when making decisions.