Derelict land on the site of former Glasgow Coliseum to be redeveloped - here are the plans

A plan to sell council land near Glasgow’s O2 Academy to a housing association has been given the go ahead, allowing redevelopment of Laurieston to progress.

Councillors have approved the start of talks over a deal for a site at the junction of Bedford Street and Eglinton Street, which is to be sold to New Gorbals Housing Association.

The project is linked to proposals, under consideration by council planners, for the former Glasgow Coliseum site, which was demolished after a fire in 2009.

Around 60 homes could be built on the land where the old theatre, cinema and bingo hall used to stand.

The city’s contracts and property committee has agreed to remove the Bedford Street/Eglinton Street land from the Laurieston Transformational Regeneration Area — a development agreement between the council and Urban Union Ltd, a private sector partner, which has produced hundreds of new homes.

Instead, the site, which includes a derelict former local repair team depot, is set to be sold off-market, alongside an adjoining parcel of council-owned land, to New Gorbals Housing Association (NGHA).

Speaking at the committee meeting, councillor Ruairi Kelly, SNP, the council’s convener for neighbourhood services and assets, welcomed the “further redevelopment of Laurieston.”

“I know the housing association there has played a big part in it,” he said. “They will be a vital partner in the continued redevelopment and the work we are doing to bring more social housing availability to the city.”

After the meeting, he said the decision was an example of “the council using its powers to allow unproductive sites and homes to be brought back to a positive use.”

In a report, council officials stated: “It is proposed that the site at Bedford Street/Eglinton Street should be removed from the adjacent site, sold to NGHA in a separate off market transaction.

“NGHA would then build a social rented housing development on the site and the adjacent site as part of the development of the former Coliseum site, under a design and build contract with Urban Union.”

Proposals for the Glasgow Coliseum land were submitted in 2021. Documents stated NGHA owns “the site of the former Coliseum Theatre at 99-111 Eglinton Street and is working in partnership with Urban Union who control the adjoining site to the south.”

They added the “majority of the housing units will be developed for affordable housing by NGHA with the balance being for private sale by Urban Union.”

The Coliseum initially opened in 1905 as a theatre and was last used as a bingo hall until it closed in 2003.

Terms of the deal for the land will be reported back to councillors for approval, or agreed by officials under delegated powers, depending on the value of the deal.