It is the second time in a week that Mr Corbell has used his ministerial authority to approve a planning project after announcing last week that he would allow the Brumbies' 131-unit development in Griffith to proceed.

But residents near the 1 Thynne Street site in Bruce say they are happy with the decision as it prevents a 182-unit complex that had been proposed for the block from going ahead.

Mr Corbell defended the use of his call-in authority on Friday as necessary to preserve the location as a mixed-use precinct and to keep Bruce's largest employer, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, in the northern suburb.

The $15 million commercial development will house 350 employees of the institute, whose current lease at another Thynne Street complex expires at the end of June next year.

The project, to be completed by July 2014, will involve the demolition of two commercial buildings previously occupied by the Department of Defence and the construction of a four-storey office building and about 170 parking spaces.

A five-storey development of mostly one-bedroom units previously proposed for the site had angered nearby residents who were concerned about its height and potential impact on parking, as well as the loss of a major employer - the institute.

It is a condition of Mr Corbell's approval of the four-storey office block that no such residential development proceeds. Mr Corbell said Thynne Street residents and the developer DCG Solutions had agreed to those terms after consultation.

He also defended the frequency with which the government used its call-in powers, saying just 0.25 per cent of developments had been approved by that means in the past three years.

Earlier this week, the Greens' Shane Rattenbury said he would propose changes to call-in powers because he believed they were used too often and prevented concerned residents from making ''legitimate objections''.

But Mr Corbell said Friday's decision had not bypassed submissions from objectors or the advice of the ACT Planning and Land Authority.

''There's no doubt that keeping a large number of jobs here in Bruce will have a very significant achievement in keeping it as a mixed-use precinct, which is a key objective of the territory plan for this location,'' Mr Corbell said.

''This is not just meant to be a residential suburb.''

Bruce resident Jan Huggett, who represented a group of unit-owners objecting to the original proposal, said residents were happy with the outcome.

''In this particular situation the fact that there has been a willingness to move to a call-in has saved local residents an incredible amount of time and effort and money that we would have had to [spend to] take the other residential development all the way through the [ACT Civil and Administrative] tribunal process,'' she said.

''We embraced the option of the commercial building because we were not happy with what was happening residentially for this site.''