A continental-style cafe quarter is expected to create hundreds of jobs and generate at least £20 million a year for the local economy, it has emerged.

The Jubilee Street development in Brighton town centre is nowhere near completion but is already attracting hundreds of visitors a day thanks to a few restaurants and the award-winning Jubilee Library.

A report going to Brighton and Hove City Council's culture and tourism committee this week estimates the Jubilee quarter could generate £4.4 million in visitor spending in its first fully operational year, 2007.

The development is also predicted to create up to 709 full-time jobs, which would bring in as much as £16.3m a year to the city's employment market.

The report also estimates that the council sees a 13-fold return on its £1.6 million-a-year investment in the site. Sue John, deputy leader of the council, said: "The Jubilee Library has attracted national and international interest since it opened in March 2005.

"It is a landmark development and really demonstrates what modern public buildings can achieve.

"The development as a whole has been a fantastic benefit to the city centre, obviously in terms of regeneration - everyone can see how much the area has changed for the better - but also in financial terms, as this report shows."

The report's author, council culture director Tony Miller, concludes that investors were attracted by the library and the opportunity to work with a well-organised local authority.

The library has won eight awards, including the Prime Minister' Better Public Building Award, a British Construction Industry Building Award and a Royal Institute of British Architects award for Best Public Building in the South East.

It has also received criticism, however, from some users who claim library managers have sacrificed quality, quantity, diversity and the traditional atmosphere of a library for a modern, shiny, new facility.

There was also anger that books are disposed of faster than the national average and have been thrown away without being offered to Brighton booksellers or the public.

Monday, November 7 2005