Glasgow approves plans for £20m hotel

Plans for a 150-bedroom hotel complete with a sky bar overlooking the River Clyde have been given the green light by council officials.

The 17-storey building on the corner of Dixon Street and Clyde Street was a floor higher when plans were first unveiled in October last year.

Designed by Young & Gault Architects, the £20 million development will incorporate a ground floor restaurant and retail space, as well as the city’s first publicly accessible rooftop bar.

Council committee members said they hoped the boutique hotel at the junction of Dixon Street would help to transform the area beside the Clyde, once home to shops and nightclubs but now lies almost derelict.

Developers Clyde Dixon said the site was chosen for its position at the end of Glasgow’s “Style Mile”.

The building will act as a focal point in the city centre and will be able to be seen from the top of Buchanan Street.

Blair Greenock, a senior planner at Glasgow City Council, said the designs were “unashamedly modern” and “symbolic of Glasgow’s industrial heritage”.

He told the planning committee that explained 12 objections and one letter of support had been received, before the panel voted unanimously to approve the scheme.

Historic Scotland objected as the body said it was concerned about the impact on the A-listed former ticket office at St Enoch’s square.

SPT also submitted a notice of objection as the development is close to the subway station.

The decision now has to be sent for scrutiny to Scottish Ministers, according to Mr Greenock.