A city centre office block could be demolished to make way for hundreds of new student beds.
Developers are looking to demolish an office building dating back to the 1970s to build a "carefully considered" student accommodation building.
The building at 225 Bath Street would hold around 560 bedrooms of various sizes and would stand beside the Novotel and Elgin Place student accommodation.
Developers iQSA has said that the accommodation will 'free up' existing residential buildings being used by older students.
The current building is described as 'largely unlet', unsuitable for sustainable office use and not able to be adapted for other uses.
A design statement explains: “The development’s wide range of bedroom configurations is intended to provide accommodation for a much wider range of student age groups than normally use conventional PBSA [purpose-built student accommodation]; beyond their normal first and second-year stay.
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“It will therefore contribute to the removal of those older students from their typical accommodation, often poor quality HMOs [house in multiple occupation], freeing those existing buildings for regeneration into more suitable residential accommodation to meet the needs of the city.
“In this way, iQSA believe that the proposed development will contribute positively to the regeneration of Bath Street and beyond in line with Glasgow City Council’s aspirations and contribute to the city’s City Centre Living Strategy of population increase.”
It adds: "The 225 Bath Street site and its excellent location will allow iQSA to strengthen its offer, along with the highly successful Elgin Place development immediately opposite the site, within Glasgow’s very important Higher and Further Education sector.”
The proposal is set to be looked at by city planners.
We previously reported how Glasgow City Council has introduced new guidance that aims to ensure that parts of the city don't become oversaturated with student accommodation and any future purpose-built accommodation benefits its surroundings and the wider community.
Developers looking to build in the city centre must show that they won't undermine the character and amenity of the surrounding area, have good access to shops, services, healthcare and community facilities and not put pressure on local amenities and facilities.
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