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Work starts on new Inverness city centre student flats

DO NOT USE - old graphic which has since been replaced

An artist's impression of the original scheme which was rejected by the Scottish Government.
DO NOT USE - old graphic which has since been replaced An artist's impression of the original scheme which was rejected by the Scottish Government.

Construction has begun on new flats which could house more than 100 students in Inverness city centre.

The multimillion-pound development is the first phase of ambitious plans by Inverness Properties to develop a new student quarter in the Rose Street area.

The six-storey block is being built on land at the back of the Panasonic store and will be able to accommodate 105 people.

Permission was granted for the development in 2012.

And plans for a second building, again capable of housing more than 100 people, are expected to be submitted to Highland Council late next week.

Charlie Barbour, development manager of Inverness Properties, said that the first stage of the development would be finished in summer 2016, ready for students moving to the city for the academic year.

The second block has been scaled back from the earlier rejected plans and will involve the demolition of the existing two-storey car parking deck.

The old Rose Street Hall building, most recently used as a nightclub, would also be torn down.

Work could start soon after the first building opens, as long as the plans are approved by the council.

Retail units on the ground floor of the second building would be included, as well as car parking for around 90 vehicles.

Mr Barbour said: “Obviously we’ve started the first phase now and that should be ready next year, we’re working to a 10-month plan for construction.

“What we’re about to do next is submit a planning application on Thursday or Friday of next week for the second phase.”

Mr Barbour said the developers had “listened” to concerns about their initial plans when drawing up their revised scheme.

The original plans were designed to accommodate 380 students in four apartment buildings, including an eight-storey block.

They were to have been built around a small public square linking Farraline Park with Academy Street.

Inverness Properties appealed the decision to the Scottish Government but he attempt was quashed by reporter David Liddell who described the flats as “incongruous”.