PLANS have been submitted for the Northern Rail offices in York city centre to be knocked down to make way for a new apartment block.

The proposals are for a building within the Roman Quarter scheme which was unveiled earlier this year - which would see a new visitor attraction, a hotel, 228 apartments, offices and new cafes, shops and restaurants built on the street.

Northern Rail have previously said they will relocate to another office in York.

The planning application says the office block could be demolished and replaced with a block of 58 flats.

The new apartments would be a mix of one or two-bedroom homes.

A North Star spokesperson said: “A permitted development planning application has been submitted for the Northern House office building on Rougier Street to seek a change to residential use. 

"This is part of our asset management process, encouraged by funders, but we remain totally committed to The Roman Quarter development that we have been working on for some time, and has been incredibly well supported by the public. 

"A detailed planning application for The Roman Quarter development - including apartments, leisure space, retail, office accommodation and the new Roman visitor attraction - will be lodged in the coming weeks. 

"The wider benefits of  the proposals include regenerating this key part of the City Centre, huge educational and cultural enhancements, providing an iconic new building, massive investment and a boost to the local economy, and we look forward to delivering this exciting project.”

The planning statement says: “Consideration is being given to demolition of existing buildings (including a seven-storey office block and two three-storey buildings) and redevelopment of the site with apartments (up to 10 storeys) and archaeology museum (two storey basement).

“The site comprises three individual buildings (Northern House, Rougier House and Society Bar).

“Northern House and Rougier House are currently being used as commercial offices (Network Rail etc) while Society Bar is a licensed public house."

The report adds that there will be space for 24 cars and 90 bike parking places.

A further planning application has been submitted for Rougier House - which lies between Northern House and Society Bar - to be turned from offices into 10 flats.

In June York-based developers North Star unveiled plans for the £150 million scheme to revamp Rougier Street.

The new Roman museum would be on the site of Society Bar. The new 169-bedroom hotel - set to be run by brand Native - would be built opposite the Malmaison hotel, which is due to open next year.

There are also plans by York Archaeological Trust for a 'once in a generation' dig on the site of the proposed Roman attraction - similar to the one it staged in Coppergate in the 1970s prior to its creation of the ground-breaking Jorvik Viking Centre.

Society Bar would be demolished in the first phase to make way for the dig and Roman attraction.

A North Star spokesperson said the scheme would replace ‘unattractive buildings with a new iconic development the whole city can be proud of,' adding: “It will be the final piece in the jigsaw to complete the renaissance of this part of the city centre and also deliver something globally unique.”

A spokesman for the project said the 33,000 sq ft Roman attraction would be double the size of the Jorvik Viking Centre.

He added that early predictions were that it would receive about half a million visitors per year and add £20 million to York’s economy.

Find out more and have your say on the plans by visiting romanquarterconsultation.co.uk or planningaccess.york.gov.uk.