City College Brighton and Hove is planning a bold new city centre development.

The college is working on plans to build a new 11,800 square metre building on the site of a car park at its current headquarters in Pelham Street.

According to proposals, which it is expected to unveil at the end of the month, the college also aims to demolish the existing tower and replace it with accommodation for up to 600 students.

It will begin a public consultation process at the end of March and run through to May 31.

The college estimates the new building will take about 26 months to complete.

In 2009 the college’s bid to create a large underground car park at the Pelham Street site was rejected by planners.

Three years ago redevelopment plans for the college suffered a setback when a national funding body rejected its bid for funds.

In March 2009, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) knocked back the college’s plans despite large parts of the project having been approved in principle.

At that time, plans for the £100 million redevelopment across four sites in Brighton and Hove included a campus forming a major part of the Brighton and Hove Albion stadium at Falmer.

The college estate is spread across five sites in the city, and some buildings date from the mid 19th century, which the college admits are |expensive to maintain and unfit for purpose.

Earlier plans for the redevelopment of the estate featured the consolidation of its teaching into three main sites in the city.

Among the proposals were the complete redevelopment of the city centre campus at Pelham Street, the redevelopment of Wilson Avenue to provide a vocational skills and craft training campus for courses in construction, engineering and motor vehicle, a new educational centre and a 14-16 centre including work-based opportunities at the American Express Community Stadium.

A spokesman for City College said a full statement on the new plans would be issued next week.