Block of student flats near Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow approved despite 60 objections

Plans for a 19-storey block of student flats have been given the go ahead, with the project described as a “positive step” towards “revitalising a long-vacant site at the heart of Glasgow”.

Glasgow’s planning committee ruled an empty shop on Cambridge Street can be knocked down to make way for the student accommodation.

The developers behind the scheme had been granted permission for a hotel on the site, near Sauchiehall Street, earlier this year, but dropped that plan as the “intended operator could not proceed”.

More than 60 objections to the proposal were received by Glasgow City Council, arguing there are too many student flats in the Garnethill area and the building would be excessive.

The council approved the plans despite more than 60 objections. LDRS

But the city’s chamber of commerce has welcomed the project, with chief executive Stuart Patrick commenting: “The approval of this new development marks a positive step forward in revitalising a long-vacant site at the heart of Glasgow.

“The chamber is continuously looking to support business investment in the city centre, especially when it brings alternative uses to previously underutilised premises.

“The project will support local education, stimulate the economy and contribute to the vibrancy of the area.”

Vacated by Littlewoods in 2005, the empty shop has only had temporary occupants since. The applicants, PMI Developments and Peveril Securities, proposed 173 ensuite studios and 20 cluster rooms as well as a lounge/bookable event space.

Student accommodation provider Mezzino, which operates in Aberdeen and Dundee, has been lined up to run the development.

Council planners had recommended the plans could be approved in a report to the committee which stated the hotel consent was “for a building of the same height and scale on the site”.

Councillors voted eight to three in favour of the development. Councillor Thomas Kerr, Conservative, said the current building is an “eyesore” and redeveloping the site would be “in the economic interests of Sauchiehall Street”.

“One of the big issues we have in this city is we don’t have enough student accommodation,” he added. “Students still come, we still have fantastic universities.

“They are then living in private rented accommodation which is taking accommodation away from other people.”

Councillor Saqib Ahmed, Labour, said: “If we can build student accommodation which may end freeing some of the other residential property, that will help the residents of Glasgow and those who are struggling to find good quality accommodation.”

However, councillor Declan Blench, SNP, said he was worried “that we are verging on quite significant overconcentration here”.

Council officials had said the general population in a 400 metre radius of the site was 4,281 while the existing student bed offer was 1,066. The figures did not cover students renting “mainstream residential” properties.

Councillors also heard how the flats could be converted to a hotel or mainstream residential homes in the future. The developers had reported the “viability of a hotel use has been negatively impacted by market forces over the past 12-18 months”.

A derelict department store in Glasgow city centre which has been empty for almost 20 years is to be demolished to make way for a 19-storey block of student flats.

Plans for a block of 173 studio flats on the site of the former Littlewoods store on Cambridge Street have been approved by the council’s planning committee.

The store, close to one of the city’s major shopping streets – Sauchiehall Street – has been mainly unoccupied since 2005.

Developers were originally given permission to build a hotel of a similar size on the same site but it was dropped because it was no longer financially viable.

Officials said the approved plans were a positive step towards revitalising the empty plot in “the heart of Glasgow”.

The approval comes after a “need assessment” which said there has been a rise in the need for student housing in the city.

Over the past year, Glasgow City Council has received many student flat planning submissions.

These include sites in areas in Trongate and Charing Cross.

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Last week work began on another 19-storey student flat site on St Vincent Street.

Sauchiehall Street
The new flats on the site of the old Littlewoods store are near Sauchiehall Street which is currently undergoing its own redevelopment.

The Marks & Spencer store on the same street – which closed in April 2022 – had also been proposed as the site of an 18-storey student block but plans were rejected in 2023 because of “over-concentration” in student housing.

Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street was once a hot spot location for high street retailers.

However, recent years have seen the closure of big retailers like Marks & Spencer along with BHS and Watt Brothers.

It was reported in 2022 that 36 per cent of Sauchiehall Street’s buildings remained empty.

In 2018, the fire at Glasgow School of Art also destroyed music venue O2 ABC on the street.

It was confirmed this year that the O2 ABC would be demolished for public safety.

Councillors hope the new 19-storey student accommodation on the Littlewoods site will improve the footfall on the high street once again.

Conservative councillor Thomas Kerr said it would help improve “the economic interests of Sauchiehall Street”.

He also said more student accommodation would free up housing for other Glasgow residents.

However, SNP councillor Declan Bench said he had concerns about “over-concentration” of student flats, which was why the Marks & Spencer site was rejected.