The public can have their say on plans to turn the Marks & Spencer store in Sauchiehall Street into student flats next week.

Developers want to turn the store site into a multi-storey accommodation block with rooms for 500 students and potentially other residential flats.

Fusion Students, the firm behind the plans, says it will address a shortage of suitable student accommodation in Glasgow with research showing there is purpose build homes available for just under a third of the students in the city.

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Glasgow Times:

A 12-week consultation has started.

The detailed plans can be viewed in person at Citizen M Hotel, in Renfrew Street, on Wednesday, November 2, and people can leave feedback on the proposal.

A planning application will be submitted to Glasgow City Council at the end of the consultation, early next year.

The development would see retail brought back to the ground floor level of the former department store, which closed earlier this year.

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The redevelopment of the area will also recreate the former Wellington Arcade, which ran from Sauchiehall street to Renfrew Street, until 1930.

Ben Henry, Head of Acquisitions at Fusion Students, said: “There is clearly a student accommodation crisis in Glasgow at the moment with just 27% of the city’s student population able to access purpose-built student accommodation and these proposals would help to address that shortfall.

“Our proposals would help to tackle this substantial shortfall by delivering quality accommodation for the city’s growing student population, within walking distance of Glasgow School of Art and Strathclyde and Glasgow Caledonian Universities.”

He said Fusion wants to hear what people want before it submits its final proposals to the council.

He added: “Sauchiehall Street is synonymous with Glasgow and these proposals have been designed to offer a range of active uses that will contribute to the long-term vibrancy of one of the city’s main thoroughfares.

“We are looking forward to meeting those interested in our ambitious plans for this iconic site in Glasgow at our upcoming consultation event.

“We are committed to listening and engaging with members of the public as we move towards the submission of a formal planning application. I would urge anyone with an interest in the proposals to attend our in-person event on Wednesday 2 November.”

There will be staff from the design team available to discuss the plans.