Revised plans for second phase of student accommodation at Rose Street lodged with Highland Council
REVISED plans for student accommodation in the centre of Inverness have been submitted after previous proposals were rejected.
The application, lodged by Inverness Properties, involves the demolition of the former Rose Street Hall and nearby two-deck car park to allow the development of a five-storey building comprising 100 student units with shops and a restaurant/café on the ground floor.
The original plans were rejected by Highland Council amid concerns about the height of the buildings, the tallest almost double the size of the Rose Street multi-storey car park, and the loss of 195 car parking spaces.
Although Inverness Properties appealed, the decision was upheld by a Scottish Government reporter.
City building consultant Gary Johnston said the previous application comprised three blocks of flats but this had now been reduced to one.
"The new plans have reduced considerably the height of the building," he said. "It will be no higher than the buildings in Strothers Lane."
It also includes provision for 75 parking spaces.
A statement submitted as part of the planning application said the proposed building is of a contemporary design with a facade which seeks "to be visually dynamic so as not to present a monolithic form, allowing it to sit sympathetically within an already fragmented and variable skyline".
Work has already started on the first phase of student accommodation — an eight-storey block of apartments accommodating 105 people in Rose Street on land at the back of the Panasonic Store. Work is due to be completed by September when work would begin on the second phase subject to the revised plans being approved. It is expected construction would take 12 months.
