Plans to build a complex to house 500 students on a former bus depot have been approved.
Members of Leicester City Council's planning committee last night approved a scheme to build 289 flats on the city's old Southgates bus station, off Peacock Lane.
Developers Applegate had originally wanted to build a five-star hotel on the site, currently used as a car park but dropped the plans because of the economic slump.
The flats now approved be spread across four, five and six-storey blocks.
Planning committee member councillor Lynn Moore said: "This is a bit like Marmite, you either love it or hate it. At the moment it is a mess an it needs something on it."
Committee chairman Patrick Kitterick praised the scheme because the flats will be able to be converted if the demand for student accommodation dries up in the future.
He said: "The key is the convertibility. The jury is still out on Leicester's capacity for student accommodation. Should times change the building could house long term residents."
