NEW plans have been submitted for a multi-million pound student housing scheme in Belfast.
The £8 million development at Bradbury Place, being brought forward by Scottish company, Rojem Properties, was first proposed in April 2016, but has since been scaled down on three separate occasions due to planning concerns.
Initially a 271-bed development was mooted by the developer, before being amended to 220. This was then refused planning permission in November 2016.
In December last year a revised application comprising a six to eight storey building and a total of 185 bedrooms was submitted, but last month the plans were again amended, with the height and scale of the development reduced.
The latest scheme proposes 100 en-suite cluster bedrooms and 56 studio apartments (156 in total) over ground floor retail and shared student communal areas. The height of the 4,957 sq m development is set to be five storeys at Bradbury Place and six to the rear at Albion Lane.
The proposals, which would see the demolition of five units, including the current home of Wok-a-Moley and the former premises of Bishops fish and chips shop, would be the latest student development in the city.
It would add to two purpose-built student accommodation developments worth in excess of £50m, both of which opened in September.
Student Roost's two properties at Great Patrick Street and Queen Street have provided an additional 791 rooms in the city centre, which is expected to see student numbers grow significantly when the new £250m Ulster University campus opens its doors.
When work is finally completed on the York Street campus the majority of academic courses at the university will transfer from Jordanstown to the centre of Belfast, boosting student numbers in the city from 2,000 to 15,000.
