An historic Huddersfield town centre mill could be converted into student flats.

Developers hope to transform Standard House – originally Marshalls Mill – into 55 digs.

The Victorian building at Half Moon Street, close to Huddersfield Bus Station, is currently empty after landlords asked shopkeepers and other tenants to leave late last year.

Eight months on and developers have now revealed their proposal for the stone building – including a plan to add two floors.

Applicant KAS Property Management Ltd, who have already transformed Thatcher’s furniture on Dundas Street into student accommodation, says the landlord of the building has struggled to rent out units after shoppers abandoned the Westgate end of the town centre in favour of Kingsgate.

In 2013 90% of the building lay empty.

The building was put up for sale in 2006 but failed to get any interest.

A statement from Hanson Chartered Surveyors, said: “It was clear a new strategy was required to revitalise the building to secure its commercial future.”

Drawings submitted to Kirklees Council show a plan to remove the roof and add two new floors to the top of the building.

The applicant says it will retain the large glass facade at the front of the building and hopes to create a cafe or an “edgy” coffee shop in the unit vacated by International Fashion.

The rest of the premises would be stripped out and replaced with a mix of one, two and three-bed flats and studios.

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The iconic circular-fronted building was originally a warehouse for Thomas Hirst, a Huddersfield wool merchant.

In 1930 it was bought by Crosland Hill based Standard Fireworks, who renamed it Standard House.

It has hosted clothing shops for many decades, including fashion shops Ben Pearson’s and Marie’s and latterly International Fashion – which was forced to close by landlords in January this year.

Owner, Brenda Bedford, pulled down the shutters after 36 years after being given notice to quit.

Brenda, and all the other tenants of the building, were asked to vacate the premises late last year.

The tenants were assisted with relocation.

A spokesman for the developers said: “The building has been largely vacant and was at risk of falling into dereliction.

“The proposed design closely reflects the history of Standard House as a new chapter of evolution.

“The design will retain all the existing facade features. The window displays are to be made available to local artists to add a touch of vibrant creativity to the street.

“Photos of long-standing occupiers such as International Fashions will feature on some of the wall art graphics as a tribute to the buildings history.

“The scheme will bring around £4m investment into Huddersfield town centre and create new jobs.”

Chris Marsden from Huddersfield Civic Society said the proposal was “generally good” and he was pleased to see many features preserved.

But he said he was thought creating flats on the ground floor with window artwork was a “desperate attempt to shoe horn residential inappropriately into the retail units.”

He added: “I am concerned that the front will disappointing and the indicative large sign on Half Moon Street is dismal.

“It’s also a pity the arcade feature is lost to public access.”