ANOTHER two major student housing schemes in Belfast are due to be given the go ahead by the city council this evening.
Planners have recommended that the green light be given to proposals to develop the former Athletic Stores building and another project at Little Patrick Street.
Together, the developments represent around £34 million of investment and will provide accommodation for around 700 students.
The £16m plans to turn the former sports shop on Queen Street to managed student accommodation is a joint venture between Lacuna and Watkin Jones.
The proposal will maintain the facade of the building which at one point had become the subject of a drive by heritage campaigners fearful it would be knocked down.
The development is part of a wider scheme by Holywood-based Lacuna and Welsh firm Watkin Jones which have also invested in the construction of student studios on the Dublin Road and the redevelopment of John Bell House.
Lacuna Development’s managing director, Anthony Best said: "We welcome the planning officer’s recommendation to approve our third development at the Queen Street. If approved this will complete our current £40m investment in the city.
"We are already on track to open the doors of John Bell House to student residents at the end of the summer, and are pleased to be working once again with O’Hare McGovern on our second development at Dublin Road.”
Mr Best added: "If planning is granted we would aim to be on site to start construction with a local contractor as soon as possible with the aim to be open in September 2018."
Meanwhile, plans for an £18m project at Little Patrick Street also appear ready for the green light.
It will be the second development by Harrogate-based firm UniCity which already has approval for a £35m scheme at York Street.
UniCiti partner,Paul Wilkinson said the recommendation was "a further step in the normalisation of its city centre".
"We have stated all along that Belfast is playing catch-up to compete with other university cities, and we are excited to bring investment, jobs and a better standard of student accommodation.
“Even following recent approvals, including our project at York Street, Belfast is still lagging far behind. In other similar sized cities the proportion of managed accommodation is between 20 per cent to 40 per cent. Currently with Belfast at just 9.7 per cent, the city could require three or four times the amount of managed accommodation to reach a more normal level for a modern university city.
“If approved, our second development at Little Patrick Street will deliver some of this much needed managed accommodation; providing assurances for parents and a quality place for students.
"Both developments will be ideal for those students who want to live close by to the university campus and contribute to a vibrant, modern city centre.”
The developments form part of a massive investment across the city which is readying itself for the new Ulster University campus currently under construction.
But the £250m programme is running behind schedule.
Originally agreed to finish by late 2018, the university is now only welcoming students from the start of the 2019 academic year.
