Remaking Glasgow: Glasgow Southside hotel at Queen's Park to be turned into flats

Glasgow’s planning committee has unanimously approved a bid from the owners of the Ivory Hotel, on Camphill Avenue, to convert the property and build more homes on the car park.

But 33 people objected to the application, with some concerned the new development is too large and not in keeping with the character of the area.

Residents on Blairhall Avenue — where the brightly coloured houses have attracted photographers looking for a perfect shot for their Instagram — and Camphill House, as well as nearby streets, are “shocked and horrified at the sheer size and scale of this development”, one objector said.

They added the scheme will “dwarf all of the adjoining houses and completely dominate the local area”, having “a massive impact on the local character”.

“People will be able to stand in their own private back court and look directly across into someone else’s upper floor bedroom windows, and directly down at someone else’s back garden,” the objector said.

However, council planners recommended Ola Properties Ltd’s bid to provide 16 flats on the site should be approved — and councillors gave the green light at a meeting today (Tuesday). Seven letters of support had been submitted to the council.

Cllr Paul Leinster, SNP, who represents Langside, said: “I am supportive of this, it is in my ward and the Ivory Hotel is looking a wee bit sad these days. It doesn’t seem to get the business it used to. 

“It seems like this is quite a good use of that space, the car park is quite ugly right now so building on that seems like a sensible thing to do. It’s obviously a very modern looking development, which isn’t in keeping with Camphill Avenue or Blairhall Avenue, but I think what they have done is very sympathetic on either side where it joins on to both existing roads.”

Cllr Imran Alam, Labour, said: “Hospitality has been hit very hard since covid and I understand the current owners’ predicament. Blairhall Avenue has obviously got significance because of the coloured properties, so I think the developers have tried to be sympathetic to both sides. I think it’s a good use of the site.”

Cllr Ken Andrew, SNP, the planning committee chairman, said it is “really quite an exciting development”. “It’s using the existing hotel building, so we are not demolishing a building, but we are then putting on this modern adjunct, which I think sits quite sympathetically.”

A council official claimed the developers were taking measures to address privacy concerns related to the rooftop garden, including a parapet and planters, so residents “can’t peer over”.

The project will see an extension to the rear of the hotel, which accommodates a restaurant, kitchen and toilets, demolished, while the existing hotel will be converted into six flats.

Ten more apartments will be built on the current car park and each home will have a car parking space. A roof garden is also planned.

The owners will need to agree to pay £43,000 due to a lack of on-site amenity provision, such as a children’s play area, in the plans They acquitted the hotel in 2001, changing the name from the Mulberry to the Ivory, but, the application claimed, recent “challenges facing the hospitality sector have led to the owners deciding to pursue redevelopment and a change of use”.

“Ola Properties Limited is the development vehicle of the Glasgow based current owners of the Ivory Hotel,” the plans added, stating they are focused on “delivering a high quality sustainable legacy development that will enable new residents to integrate into the established Shawlands and Langside community”.

Planners believe the proposal is “compatible with the surrounding residential properties”. “Overall, it is considered that the scale, massing and siting is in keeping with that of the surrounding area,” they reported.