A fast-fading shopping arcade in Dundee that was built on the site of a historic factory could be converted into student homes and commercial space in the latest move to revitalise the city centre.
Dundee 1881, a special purpose vehicle set up specifically to purchase and invest in the Keiller Centre, is organising public consultations before a planning application is submitted in the spring.
The centre, which opened in 1979 on the vacant site of the former factory, has been failing both financially and structurally for some time and has defied numerous attempts to promote it for other uses.
The new proposal provides a significant opportunity to reinstate a historical thoroughfare, as well as introduce private and public realm and commercial space.
It complements plans by Dundee and Angus College to relocate its campus at Kingsway to the site of the Wellgate Shopping Centre.
Dundee is seeing a surge in student numbers which is creating a demand for accommodation. According to the Higher Education Students Agency, the number of full-time students at the University of Dundee and Abertay University, has increased by 24% from 14,475 in 2017 to 17,950 in 2023, amounting to 3,475 students.
A by the cross-party group on housing, suggests a shortfall in 2022/23, of 6,084 purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) bedspaces in the city.
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