Student village will transform city

Here is the first glimpse of the towering 25-storey "student village" which will transform the skyline in Wolverhampton.

The luxurious development will revolutionise student living and cost £40 million to create – £15m more than first expected.

Complete with Sky TV, broadband internet access, en-suite bedrooms, gym and communal areas, developers have vowed the luxury complex will make the image of grimy, rundown student digs a thing of the past in Wolverhampton.

It will spring up opposite the Low Level Station on land off Culwell Street and be made up of more than 720 rooms. Around 500 jobs will also be created during construction.

Bob Crompton, chief executive officer from London-based Victoria Hall which is behind the development, said today: "We are trying to create a new little village for students in Wolverhampton which will breathe new life into the city centre.

"We want to integrate student life into city living. The development will cost around £40m and it is so much more than just creating bedrooms for students to stay in.

"Wolverhampton is the perfect location for this sort of development and for students to live in high-quality surroundings. The building itself is 25-storey and will become a new landmark in the city."

Victoria Hall already owns high-profile student developments in cities including Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester.

Construction is expected to start within weeks once the company satisfies council officers on a number of issues such as CCTV, car parking, and a public art strategy.

The complex will be opposite the leisure, retail and homes complex being created on the site of the Low Level Station and the new development at Springfield Brewery.

Work to renovate the old station back to its former glory has finally been completed and now Claremont Leisure is preparing to move in to transform the site into a casino, complete with £6m worth of fittings.

Elsewhere in the city the University of Wolverhampton's former MU building in Lichfield Street could be transformed into student flats, three shops and a courtyard.

The university sold the 57,371 sq ft building last year, which was made up of office accommodation, lecture halls and seminar rooms.

It has several blocks of student halls but many live in private houses, particularly in the Whitmore Reans and Penn Fields areas.

Figures last year showed rents for student houses in the city are the third lowest in the country and almost £20 a week below the national average.