A Birmingham city centre regeneration scheme which has stalled for 25 years could finally be back on the cards with major new plans.
Birmingham City Council was accused of being "politically correct but management incorrect" over a previous £100 million scheme to transform part of Holloway Head in 2011 after another false dawn for the scheme.
Now, Hertfordshire-based investor Panther Securities has returned to apply to build 487 apartments on the 1.3-acre site at 49-51 Holloway Head.
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Since 1990, no fewer than 17 applications have been made for the site but none ever saw the light of day and the site lay derelict in all that time.
major mixed-use development including a casino, car showroom, 131-bedroom hotel and up to 303 flats - but again this never came to fruition.
The firm launched a furious attack on the council in its annual report shortly afterwards, accusing it of being held back by political correctness.
It said it had suffered dreadful problems with squatters and drug addicts, which had required "a fortune" to be spent on security, after a year-long delay waiting for approval, something which the council said was not its fault.
The company has now returned with an entirely residential scheme on the site which would see the existing buildings, from the 1950s and 1960s, demolished.
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The project includes two new connected towers of up to 14 storeys, ground floor retail and a new headquarters for Girlguiding Birmingham, which owns Trefoil House on the site.
Panther Securities' chairman Andrew Perloff told the Post : "We've waited this long, I'm sure we can wait a little bit longer.
"The council is very keen to see this site developed, there's a market that's definitely improving, particularly with all these big businesses relocating to Birmingham or wanting to relocate there.
"If it gets the go-ahead, we will be anxious to get a developer on board straight away."
Mr Perloff said the company was working with Girlguiding Birmingham on whether it wanted to have a base within the new development or would prefer to relocate.
The two buildings, designed by the Stourbridge office of Corstorphine + Wright Architects, would be built either side of Brownsea Drive and contain parking for 200 cars and a further 200 spaces for bikes.
They would contain 22 studios, 261 one-bedroom and 204 two-bedroom apartments with 3,960 sq ft of retail space on the ground floor.
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Mr Perloff added: "We had the outline consent a few years ago which came through during the recession but things have changed since then.
"We've redesigned it to be a bit more appropriate for the market as it is today. There was a big demand for mixed-use but now there's a shortage of residential units in Birmingham.
"The council encouraged us to go for residential and we think it's a desirable development for the area. We are now in the final stages of demolition work there."
This new application follows swiftly on the heels of plans in nearby Gough Street, to build 73 apartments.
London-based investor and developer Romiga has applied to knock down the old Birmingham United Services Club building and replace it with 43 one-bedroom and 30 two-bedroom units.
The former Debenhams warehouse in Holloway Head, called Concord House, is and earlier this year plans were lodged to redevelop to create 304 one- and two-bedroom flats.