Pre-application feedback sought on proposals for six storey Summerland Street student accommodation block

Pre-application feedback is being sought on proposals for a six storey student accommodation block on the corner of Summerland Street and Verney Street which would replace the closed Unit 1 nightclub and Best Tyre Auto Centre.

The redevelopment would add 180 beds to 1,575 existing student bedspaces in the immediate area on top of 145 studios in a “co-living” block, also in Summerland Street, that was approved by the city council planning committee eighteen months ago and granted full planning consent in October but remains unbuilt.

Illustrative elevation of proposed student block in Summerland Street. Image: DevComms.

It would stand adjacent to two of the five blocks that form the 487-bed Printworks student accommodation complex, in Verney Street and in Summerland Street, and face The Depot, a 734-bed student block with its entrance in Bampfylde Street.

The Barn provides another 150 student bedspaces in Bampfylde Street and The Kingfisher, which provides 203 student bedspaces, also stands nearby with its rear facade overlooking Verney Street alongside the Printworks.

Unit 1 nightclub in Summerland Street flanked by Printworks student blocks on both sides

Developer Spinnaker Estates Private Limited, which was incorporated in February last year shortly after the Unit 1 nightclub closed and has yet to file any accounts at Companies House, is promoting the redevelopment scheme.

A spokesperson for the company said the block would reduce the number of students living in private rented accommodation which could otherwise be used as family housing for local people, but did not provide any evidence to support this oft-repeated claim.

He also incorrectly claimed that the university’s intake is growing at a rate of 750 students per year, despite the university’s own figures which confirm that its student numbers are falling, and suggested that the scheme could “further revitalise the street scene” following the construction of nearby student blocks.

Best Tyre Auto Centre beside the Printworks student block in Verney Street

When asked to provide further details such as illustrative renders of the proposals the company’s spokesperson was initially unable to do so.

The company website is currently largely comprised of Lorem ipsum placeholder text and locates its headquarters in Broadway, New York instead of at its registered office, which is a residential address in Putney, London.

Its representatives nevertheless sought to sell its proposals for the Summerland Street student block at a drop-in session on Wednesday at St Sidwell’s Community Centre, before which they provided the illustrative render above, saying it had only been finalised this week.

No project-specific website is available. Feedback on the proposals, notwithstanding the scant information provided, can be left via a third-party online survey or sent by email to formerunit1@devcomms.co.uk.

No closing date for the company’s pre-application consultation has been provided.