Up to 140 homes will be built on a plot of land which was gutted by a severe fire in 2017.
The county council-owned land in Rolleston Drive, in Arnold, was the site of offices which had been derelict for around six years before the fire.
Around 30 firefighters spent several hours battling the blaze, which sent plumes of thick black smoke into the sky.
At the time, residents said the derelict building had been an ‘accident waiting to happen’ with problems of vandalism and antisocial behaviour.
After the fire, the land was cleared and concreted over.
This again proved controversial, when several homes and businesses were severely flooded on and around nearby Bentwell Avenue in June last year.
A county council report into the flooding found a large water storage area adjacent to Rolleston Drive had broken its banks, sending a huge torrent of water downhill, hitting 24 homes and 20 businesses in Bentwell Avenue and Brookfield Road.

But residents whose homes were hit said the large empty plot in Rolleston Drive had exacerbated the problem, with water flowing uninterrupted down the smooth concrete and filling the water storage area faster than usual.
Now, it seems the plot’s long history will have a new chapter.
The county council agreed on Wednesday, January 15, to sell the land to a developer.
The council has not disclosed the price it has received for the plot, nor to whom it has been sold, on the grounds of commercial sensitivity.
It is hoped 140 new houses will be built there, subject to the developer getting planning permission from Gedling Borough Council.
Of these, 20 per cent (28) will be classified as affordable houses.
Councillor Chris Barnfather represents Newstead for the Conservatives and told the committee: “I am pleased to see this, and that we will be able to move this site on.
“It clearly has sat there for a long time.
“When we originally closed it down this land was designated as employment land, hence it being fenced off and initially looked at as employment land.
“The local authority subsequently changed its status from employment land when it could not be utilised in that capacity to residential development. Of course, that was under another administration.
“I’m pleased to see that we have now moved this forward and successfully marketed it.”
The plan to sell the site to the developer was unanimously approved.