A PROPERTY development company has pledged to transform a crumbling listed warehouse in the city centre into plush student flats by next summer.

Miller Knight Developments has been granted planning permission to convert 149-151 Sunbridge Road, a grade two listed, seven storey building dating back to 1905, into 74 ensuite student flats.

And the company has told the T&A that the £3.2 million scheme will be inspired by boutique hotels, with large rooms fitted with plasma screen TVs dashing the traditional image of the utilitarian student flats of the past.

The company's application said that only the ground floor of the building was currently occupied, that the roof was leaking and most of the windows missing or having rotted away.

The development, approved by Bradford Council, includes an additional two storeys built to a rear wing of the building.

Has Hussain, business development manager for the company, said the aim was to have the property redeveloped and ready for students by August 2016.

He said: "We are going for boutique student accommodation with this. It will be luxury flats with a boutique hotel feel to them, but they will be going for the market rate.

"We will be incorporating 42 inch plasma screen TVs into the rooms but we will still only be charging them the normal rates for student accommodation. We want this place to have 100 per cent occupancy so we need it to stand apart from other student developments on offer."

Each room will have a kitchenette and ensuite bathroom with walk-in shower. Shared facilities on the site include a cinema room, gym, computer centre and communal lounge.

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The company, which has a similar development in Nottingham and has acquired a site in Manchester,

plans to build 2,000 flats in the next 8 years.

Mr Hussain said they would work hard to maintain the building's character, adding: "We are going to be enhancing and showcasing its architectural highlights. we're working extremely closely with architects.

"I was born and bred here so its good to see places like this in Bradford being developed."

He said the area of Sunbridge Road was fast becoming a new student quarter in the city, and the application had also referred to neighbouring properties that are being redeveloped.

Meanwhile, another developer, Muniment Bradford Developments, has applied to the Council to convert a five storey office block, Airedale House in Sunbridge Road, into 39 two and three bedroom apartments.

A decision on the application is expected to be made by the Council in August.