The height of a proposed £30m student accommodation complex has been lowered by a storey in response to comments during the consultation.
Chester Race Company and London-based developers The Stephenson Group are partners in the project at the Linenhall car park site which still intends to accommodate about 550 students because the site will be reconfigured.
But now amended plans have been submitted with Cheshire West and Chester Council showing the ring road elevation will be reduced from six storeys to five storeys.
The building will include a mix of studio apartments and cluster flats. And the proposals feature an office for on-site management and an undercroft car park for about 100 vehicles plus secure cycle parking.
Race Company bosses hope the University of Chester may be prepared to take on the lease or sign-post students to the accommodation if the development gets planning consent.
Promoters believe the central location makes it an attractive proposition for students given it is sited between the Parkgate Road and Riverside campuses in the heart of the city.
Spokesman Chris Clayton said of the changes: “We have responded to various consultees and reduced the St Martin’s elevation by a storey.
“Comments have generally be in our favour but one comment which came back was a worry about the St Martin’s elevation being a bit too tall.”
Among those criticisms was one from objectors Heather and Trevor Massey, of St Martin’s, who wrote: “The height along the length of St Martin’s Way from Bedward Row to Lower Watergate Street will create a tunnel effect dramatically changing the southerly aspect from the frontage St Martin’s.”
