Green light for King Street car park plans

PLANS to transform a car park in Glasgow city centre into a complex that could include flats, shops, restaurants and a hotel have been given the green light.

An application was submitted in May last year, with proposals to turn the King Street Car Park, near the St Enoch shopping centre, into a “vibrant urban quarter”.

Glasgow City Council has now granted permission in principle, meaning the site would be suitable but more detailed projects will need to be assessed.

The initial plans are for the erection of a mixed-development that could see residential flats, offices, shops, a hotel, restaurant and public house, and leisure facilities built on the site.

The site, bounded by Howard Street, King Street, Osborne Street, Stockwell Street and Bridgegate, has been used as a car park since the 1970s.

Currently operated by NCP, the developers argue the current use creates a “significant gap in the fabric of the city centre”.

Vengada Estates, a company ultimately controlled by the Reuben Brothers, who have a property portfolio reportedly worth more than £18.6 billion, is behind the application.

They have reported four scenarios could be developed on the site, with different proportions of employment, residential and leisure uses.

These include: residential-led with some offices, a balanced mix of residential and offices, a mix of flats and offices with a hotel or an “urban office campus” with some homes.

The plans said: “The redevelopment of the King Street Car Park site presents a unique opportunity to transform a part of the city centre that has been underutilised for decades.”

“This will create a vibrant urban quarter that is active throughout the day and evening hours.”

The applicants believe the development “will enhance the wider Merchant City’s global reputation as a place where people want to live, work and play.”

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