PLANNING permission has been granted for an 11-storey student accommodation block on the site of a well-known South Belfast bar.
FMN Properties Ltd is proposing 201 student units on the site of Filthy McNasty's on the Dublin Road.
The £7m plans centre on a block of buildings on the corner of Dublin Road and Ventry Street, which currently houses a bookmakers and two other Bachus Group venues: Ventry Social and Liquor XXX.
A separate planning application lodged in recent days by FMN Properties has proposed turning a former car garage across the road in Ventry Street into a new public house.
The plans approved by Belfast City Council’s Planning Committee on Tuesday night, provide for 155 cluster bedroom and 46 studios over street-level retail units.
University representatives told the Council's Planning Committee that student accommodation in both purpose-built and in the private rental sector was at capacity.
They said the city needed a further 6,000 rooms for students by 2028-2030.
The application was approved, subject to a section 76 agreement, which typically requires developers to make some kind of financial contribution to the surrounding area or support skills development during construction.
