Consultants behind plans to convert a Hagley Road office block into student accommodation say it will mean a new lease of life for the building and new jobs for the area.

Stourbridge-based PJ Planning has submitted plans to redevelop 104-106 Hagley Road, designed by renowned architect John Madin, on behalf of Hagley Road Properties.

The Edgbaston scheme includes adding two storeys to the building to create 149 studio bedrooms, seven common rooms, basement bike parking and a 4,305 sq ft ground floor retail unit with recladding of the exterior.

In a report submitted to Birmingham City Council, the firm said the building had struggled with occupancy and only three companies currently leased just over a quarter of the four-storey, 28,000 sq ft complex.

"The site was designated as a landmark location within the 1957 Masterplan for the Calthrope Estate, prepared by John Madin, and adopted by the city council the following year," the report said.

"His practice subsequently designed both the application site, which was finished in 1959 and the adjacent building, 100 Hagley Road, finished in 1962 and refurbished in 2008.

"The application site has continued to suffer from high levels of vacancy.

"The proposed design follows the precedent of the alterations to 100 Hagley Road, refurbished by the same architect (St Paul’s Associates).

"These include increasing the height of the building with two extra floors, with the new top floor running about two thirds of the length from Hagley Road in order to reduce the impact on the adjacent listed buildings."

Two of the companies based there intend to relocate to 100 Hagley Road and the student development is expected to create about 40 jobs including up to 25 in the retail unit.

It is the latest in a long line of projects to build student accommodation in Birmingham including a new tower on land next to the Travelodge close the Wholesale Markets which will create 323 studios and 7,530 sq ft of commercial space.

Elsewhere, Knightsbridge Student Housing is seeking permission to demolish a former oil factory in the Gun Quarter to build 534 bedrooms in shared flats and a 3,510 sq ft convenience store.