The company which will be working with Herefordshire Council to bring a new lease of life to the now empty Blackfriars End has been named.
An artist's impression of a communal living area inside the student accommodation. Picture: Herefordshire Council
In a report, chief executive Paul Walker gave elected members a brief outline of the council's intentions for the Blackfriars End.
The long-condemned terrace has recently been demolished and the site cleared, with a vision for more than 100 student flats and a new stand being drawn up.
Bulls News understands plans could be for 103 student rooms, though this could be up to 140 or so if an extra floor is added. There could also be some commercial spaces on the ground floor.
Mr Walker told councillors hundreds of new student accommodation places are set to be developed in Hereford, with proposals now being developed for sites at the Edgar Street football ground, which would include the building of a new stand, and at the College Road campus.
"It’s important to the county’s economy as a whole to encourage young people to study, live and develop their careers here, and high-quality student living facilities will support this," he said.
He said the council will be working with regeneration and development specialist Cityheart which delivered the Station Approach student accommodation.
The approach for that site - which is used for Hereford College of Arts students - saw the developer given a lease by the council to build the blocks.
It is thought the approach for Blackfriars Street - which will mainly be for students at the new university NMITE - will be similar, with Cityheart once again involved.
It is not made clear what the firm's involvement - if any - will be in the football stand side of the development. The club, however, are involved.
The Chester-based firm also has accommodation locally at the University of Gloucestershire and Hartpury University.
Founded in 2005 by managing director Mark McNamee, Cityheart said it specialises in working with the public sector to deliver and manage regeneration projects across the UK. It said on its website that it had successfully delivered specialist healthcare, judicial, extra care, education and student accommodation buildings.
"Whilst Cityheart is primarily a development company, we also provide development consultancy advice and invest in the property market, in addition to delivering private sector projects," it added.
"Cityheart has a strong ethos of working closely with its partners, understanding their needs and aspirations and delivering sustainable, cost-effective solutions on time, offering real ‘value for money’ to its partners.
Herefordshire Council previously agreed to spend £254,000 on drawing up plans for the Blackfriars Street project and a similar scheme at Hereford College of Arts' College Road campus.
Working with a not-yet-selected development partner, the project will be designed, costs worked out and planning permission applied for.
An update is expected next month.