Developers have announced that a public consultation event will take place this week on their proposals for student, and potentially other residential accommodation, for around 500 residents with re-instated alternative shopping facilities at ground floor level.

The plans come amidst a widespread shortage of student accommodation in the city, with recent reports that some students are being advised to defer their studies due to the lack of suitable accommodation.

A market overview of purpose-built student accommodation in the city has revealed that the city only has purpose-built accommodation for 27% of around 70,000 students studying in Glasgow, forcing some students to continue to live at home or turn to the very competitive private rented sector.

The in-person event is part of a 12-week consultation period on the proposals, with a Proposal of Application Notice (PoAN) having been submitted to Glasgow City Council.

Members of the public are free to attend the consultation at the city’s CitizenM Hotel on Wednesday 2 November, providing an opportunity to view the proposals in more detail and leave feedback to shape the plans.

The mixed-use proposals would see retail brought back at ground floor level to help improve the street-level environment in Sauchiehall Street, while the recreation of the former Wellington Arcade will provide a publicly accessible connection between Sauchiehall Street and Renfrew Street.

The development is being brought forward by residential and student housing developer and operator Fusion Students.

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.

“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 throughfares.

“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. Members of our project team will be on-hand to discuss the proposals with the local community and to answer any questions they may have.

“We look forward to continuing to engage with the public and hearing feedback about our proposals, which will help to shape our future plans.”

More information can be found at the project’s dedicated website. The consultation event at the CitizenM Hotel is being held between 2.30pm and 7pm.

It is anticipated that a planning application will be submitted to Glasgow City Council in early 2023.