Wunderbar owners could buy council land next door to build flats

The owners of Wunderbar in Glasgow’s west end could buy council-owned land next to the venue to build flats.

Glasgow City Council previously approved a proposal to sell the Dumbarton Road site to Hegarty Investment Company for use as a beer garden.

But the company has now indicated it intends to “pursue a build to rent development scheme”, according to a council report. Councillors are set to reconsider the issue at a meeting on Thursday.

“The proposed purchaser is the owner of the adjoining land and the public house on it,” the report states, adding approval had previously been granted to “negotiate terms and conditions of the disposal… to the purchaser for use as a beer garden for the public house.

“In the interim, the purchaser has indicated they wish to pursue a build-to-rent development scheme with the site assembled from their interest and that of Glasgow City Council and no longer intend to use the subject as a beer garden.”

After the bar owners’ decision, council officials were instructed to “progress the disposal of the two sites based on their value with the benefit of planning permission for the build-to-rent use”.

Councillors on the contracts and property committee will be asked to approve negotiations over a deal this week. The plan could also see three title exceptions that the council has over the site removed.

The title exceptions relate to “two demolished third-floor flats at 49 Dumbarton Road and the former shop at 47 Dumbarton Road, now part of the existing public house”. The owners want to “enter into a corrective conveyance with Glasgow City Council for the removal of the three exceptions from their title”.

Wunderbar opened at 59 Dumbarton Road in 2024 following the success of a city centre venue. The land, which could be sold by the council, is currently used as a beer garden.