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Derelict store to be demolished for student flats

PMI Developments A derelict building with 'To Let' signs on either side of the corners. There's graffiti on the walls and boarding up windows around the bottom of the building. PMI Developments
The site is located on the corner of Renfrew Street and Cambridge Street.

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.

PMI Developments A 19-storey building on the corner of the street. It looks modern and stands out next to the smaller buildings. PMI Developments
A computer generated image of what the block would look like in the site.

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.

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.

The old Marks and Spencer site with boarded up windows and no signage.
The Marks and Spencer site was rejected as student accommodation in 2023

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.