A £20million project to transform a former Aberdeen school into student halls is expected to completed by 2016, the developer has revealed.
Unite, who provides students accommodation across the city, was granted planning permission to turn the 19th century Causewayend School into student flats.
Councillors granted conditional permission last week, but the developer has now agreed to the conditions and is pushing on with the project.
Under the plans, 16% of the derelict school building will be made into new rooms while a six-storey block will be built where the gym currently is. It will provide a home for about 400 students.
The school’s former nursery will be converted into a common leisure area and study room.
Yesterday, Unite announced they expected to be ready to welcome students for the 2016/17 academic year.
Richard Simpson, managing director of property for Unite Students, said: “Causewayend will provide a safe and secure home for students and will help to strengthen our relationships with University of Aberdeen and Robert Gordon University and meet the accommodation demands of Aberdeen’s growing student population, whilst contributing to the regeneration of the area.”
It is hoped the development will ease accommodation pressure faced by students in the city.
In September, more than 200 freshers arriving in the Granite City were forced to live in temporary accommodation following an “unprecedented surge” in student applications to live on campus.