Saint-Gobain, owner of Jewson, has submitted plans to build up to 2000 houses at its old Stanton ironworks in Derbyshire near the Nottinghamshire border.
The project will also include shops, restaurants, a 150-bed care home and possibly a new primary school, health centre and sports pitches.
Construction work would begin in 2015 at the 470-acre former ironworks site if planning is approved.
Les Foulger of Saint-Gobain said the firm had spent five years considering the future of the "vast industrial landscape" at Stanton. "A large stretch of the historic Nutbrook Canal will be uncovered through the site," he says.
The 470-acre former ironworks site, located close to the M1, was hit by a fire in September 2012 that burned for nearly two weeks.
