A former cinema built in the 1920s but which was gutted by a fire three years ago could be brought back to life as an apartment complex.
The Kingsway building in which later housed a bingo hall, closed its doors for good seven years ago and was vacant when the blaze struck in September 2011, destroying 80 per cent of the fixtures, fittings and structure.
Property & General Developments and PTA Waites Architecture have submitted new plans to the city council to convert the derelict site at 69 High Street into 14 apartments and a ground floor a retail unit.
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They want to demolish the fire damaged structure to the rear but retain the Grade A locally listed façade at the front as part of any development which would also include parking and landscaping.
The existing building was designed as a cinema in 1925 by Horace G Bradley who was responsible for several neo-classical cinemas in Birmingham, according to a heritage report prepared for the application.
It closed in 1980 as a cinema and reopened as a bingo hall a few years later until 2007 since when it has been vacant.
The building is considered to be one of the few local examples of Bradley's work in the city which was mostly in its original form.
It has been the subject of several planning applications in recent years including the installation of telecommunications equipment in 2002 and a restaurant,
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Applications since the building closed have been withdrawn or refused on the grounds of insufficient parking or because they would be detrimental to highway safety.
A design statement accompanying this application said: "The aim of the scheme is to provide a mixed-use development in keeping with the surroundings of the site.
"It is in the midst of a shopping area and sustainable for mixed use proposal. The surrounding area comprises mainly retail units with office or residential accommodation over, it is expected that parking is quite limited however so the potential to park within the confines of the development is a positive.
"The development will provide a sustainable outlet to an otherwise unused part of the high street. It is expected the sale of residential units will further bolster the active use of the high street at all times of the day and night.
"The proposed building has been designed to ensure a combined and complimentary addition to the retained façade."