The motorway-scarred western edge of Glasgow city centre could be irrevocably changed under plans approved last month.
Charing Cross, once Glasgow’s new beating heart, was all but flattened in the 1960s to make way for the M8. The Grand Hotel was pulled down, whole streets of tenements were levelled, and the buildings that remain—the A-listed Charing Cross mansions and Mitchell Library—are painted into obscurity by the roar of motorway spaghetti traffic and the looming M8 plinth bridge offices.
Plans in principle have now been approved for a development that would be the most significant change to this part of Glasgow since the M8 tore through the city. The plans, approved December 17, include the demolition of buildings on the city side of Charing Cross, and also the M8 plinth bridge, with towering, modern buildings shooting up in their place.
The project, dubbed Charing Cross Gateway (stylised CXG) would be built on the site of Elmbank Gardens and 300 Bath Street (previously Tay House) at the corner of Sauchiehall Street. The ‘masterplan’ includes a twenty-three storey tower block, residential flats, offices, and 662 new student accommodation beds.
The buildings would have roof terraces with gardens based on wild Scottish landscapes, communal squares and the possibility for shops, restaurants and other locations. There is also brief mention in the documents of a possible medical facility.
The proposals are already impacting the area materially. Earlier this month, The Baby Grand, a Glasgow institution operating in Charing Cross since 1984, announced it was closing at the end of the month to make way for student accommodation.
The plans have been submitted by CXG Glasgow Ltd, a firm holding investment property assets of £7,101,044 as of March 2024. The applicant states that “Charing Cross is lacking identity and purpose” and that “sporadic post war development has created an uncohesive and disconnected architectural legacy [sic].”
The applicant goes on to state that the multiple levels and “unattractive routes” through the site create an “intimidating atmosphere” and an “anti-pedestrian environment.” Of Elmbank Gardens, the applicant laments the “confusing approach and overlapping of uses,” adding that surrounding lanes are “narrow and threatening”.
The project proposes the removal of the M8 office plinth, adding that the office block bridge over the M8 “iconic but commercially awkward.” The proposal includes a “future ambition” for a park built over the M8 from the Mitchell Library to Sauchiehall Street that the applicant hopes “Can become a destination in its own right” and reduce air and noise pollution.
There is also mention of a “rejuvenated” King’s Theatre and “renewed” Charing Cross station, as well as an extension of the Avenues project along Sauchiehall Street and Elmbank Street. The area is already a hub of construction activity, with new developments at Anderston Quay and Holland Park, plus the planned neighbouring Portcullis House skyscraper, set to be Glasgow’s second tallest building after the Glasgow Science Centre Tower.
Now that the plans have been approved in principal, the starting pistol has been fired on a five-year period in which during which the project must begin before permission lapses. But several more hoops must be jumped through before construction commences. These include submitting a detailed plan of the buildings to be constructed on the site and the design of associated areas, as well as detailed demolition plans.
There are also conditions imposed to preserve the structural integrity of the M8, including undertaking dilapidation surveys along with Traffic Scotland before any work piling or basement excavation work commences within twenty metres of the M8 anchor wall.
In the planning documents, estate agent Savills says 3.8 students are competing for every purpose-built student accommodation bed in Glasgow, and that a further 22,400 beds would be needed to bring the ratio down to 1.5. The UK average is 2.9.
Ahead of the 2024/25 year, the University of Glasgow has warned that in years of exceptional demand, it will not offer accommodation to students commuting within 1 hour of Glasgow by public transport. There are 77,640 full-time students in Glasgow.
The southern section of the project, built on the site of Elmbank Gardens, would provide 662 student beds according to the Savills report.
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