Plans to build student flats on the site of a fire-hit former Dundee furniture store could be approved next week.
A planning application was lodged with Dundee City Council in June seeking permission to erect a nine-storey accommodation block on Barrack Street.
The site was previously home to the derelict Willison House, which was Robertson’s furniture store for decades.
It was destroyed by a fire in November 2022 and demolished just weeks later.
Decision due next week
A decision will be made on the student accommodation plans when the local authority’s planning committee meet on Monday.
The 367-bed development will be a mix of studio and cluster apartments. Each will have a lounge and kitchen area.
A gym and a cycle storage space for up to 119 bikes is also included in the plans.
Just one letter of objection was submitted during the public consultation period. This raised concerns additional students would lead to increased noise and litter.
But council officers determined there would no “significant impact” on residents living nearby and recommend the committee grant planning permission.
Prior to the blaze in 2022, a number of planning applications had been submitted for the site.
Proposals for student accommodation were turned down in 2017, and Dundonians launched a petition to see the exterior saved in future development plans.
However, in 2018 councillors approved an application to demolish Willison House and erect two hotels and a restaurant in its place.
The two hotels would have had 215 rooms between them.
This never materialised and four years later a proposal of application notice was submitted for student accommodation on the site.
A full planning application was subsequently lodged this year.
Building dated back to 1930s
Willison House was built in the 1930s, with Robertson’s occupying the building the same decade.
The family firm remained in the B-listed building until Robertson’s fell into administration in 2011, shutting up the shop with the loss of 16 jobs.
It remained empty until it was destroyed in the 2022 fire.
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