Former Glasgow nightclub on market after permission granted for 70 flats

A former nightclub site on Sauchiehall Street with permission for more than 70 flats is on the market.

Planning approval has now been granted for the redevelopment of a run-down plot that was once home to Club 520. It allows 71 apartments and a ground-floor commercial unit to be created.

The site includes land where the National Bank of Pakistan once stood as well as the B-listed former nightclub property. Retention of the building’s “historic facades” are included in the plan.

It is currently being marketed by estate agents Savills, who describe it as a “prime development site” boasting “significant dual frontages on Sauchiehall Street and Renfrew Street”.

Consensus Capital Group Ltd submitted the application for a “high-quality, co-living development” at 520 and 522 Sauchiehall Street in 2021. The old bank was demolished in 2008 while the nightclub has been empty for more than a decade.

Plans stated: “The development’s location close to Charing Cross aims to help meet the growing demand for homes and align with Glasgow City Council’s aim to return the area to its former mix of commercial and residential use.”

Councillors backed the plan for the long-term vacant site in June 2024. A legal agreement has now been signed and planning permission was granted this week.

Initially, the developers had planned to provide 87 flats across a 14-storey building, but the scheme was later revised to 71 units, with the development reaching eight-storeys at Sauchiehall Street and six on Renfrew Street.

It is expected the development would offer mainly studio apartments, with a communal kitchen, laundry room and lounge.

The building, previously a piano shop, became a cinema in 1912 and was converted into a bar and club venue in 1984.

It has previously been reported a bust of composer Beethoven on the Renfrew Street elevation, which was vandalised and then removed, would be reinstated.

There were 22 objections to the application, and nine letters of support, when it was considered by councillors two years ago. Concerns included the scale of the proposed development and the impact on nearby listed buildings.