Work underway to reopen former Virgin Hotels Glasgow building on Clyde Street
A Glasgow waterfront hotel is preparing to reopen after suddenly closing in 2023. Building work is continuing at the Virgin Hotel in Clyde Street, a city licensing board meeting heard today.
Work on the 17 storey building is due to be completed in 12 months, a solicitor told the board as he asked for an extension to an alcohol licence. Councillors granted the venue a request to further extend the provisional alcohol premises licence by 18 months.
A solicitor said work to complete the “fit out of the hotel” is to take a year. He said issues with the hotel were an “example of what can go wrong will go wrong.”
Councillor Bill Butler asked: “Can you give me a guarantee we won’t be back here in 18 months.”
The solicitor reiterated that it is anticipated that work would take 12 months. Around 130 employees lost their jobs when the 240-bedroom hotel closed just four months after opening. The building’s previous owner Lloyds Developments Limited was put into administration.
The unfinished Virgin Hotels Glasgow building was sold in January 2025, just over a year after its sudden closure. Martin Property Group, a commercial and residential real estate group, which operates in the UK and Ireland became the new owner of the landmark property on Clyde Street.
A statement said: “The joint administrators of Lloyds Developments Limited, Geoff Jacobs and Richard Heis from Interpath, are pleased to confirm that following an extensive marketing process (supported by Savills), they have completed a sale of the hotel located at 246 Clyde Street in Glasgow to a Martin Property Group entity.
“The 17-storey hotel, which overlooks the River Clyde, comprises 240 guest bedrooms (165 of which are completed), in addition to a ground floor restaurant and bar, mezzanine bar and lounge, terrace area, and conference and meeting facilities.”
Geoff Jacobs, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator of Lloyds Developments Limited, said: “The hotel occupies a prime position on the Glasgow riverfront. We look forward to seeing the hotel back in operation and wish the purchaser every success in the future."
The property had been on the market since March 2024, marketed by Savills, with an extension of its alcohol premises licence granted.
Martin Property Group is a family-run Northern Irish firm with an extensive real estate portfolio that includes 151 West George Street in Glasgow.
The company that owned the Virgin Hotel building was part of a limited liability partnership of four designated members - Richard Diamond and Rishipal Singh alongside Lloyds Development Ltd with a registered address in Guernsey and Moreply Ltd, registered in London.
Lloyds Development Ltd was placed into administration on 30 November 2023 with Blair Nimmo and Geoff Jacobs of Interpath Advisory appointed on 1 December 2023 as Insolvency Practitioners.
The building had been originally intended as student accommodation but was acquired for a hotel development with new plans designed by 21st Architecture Ltd.
Permission was granted for the 17-storey building on Clyde Street to be used as a 290-bedroom hotel instead of student accommodation in 2018. Plans were then submitted for the neighbouring premises - Riverside House at 260 Clyde Street, currently operating as student accommodation - to provide a gym, cafe and meeting rooms for the hotel with a whisky bar and links between the two buildings at ground floor level.
This section of the hotel, alongside the upper floors, was not completed before Virgin Hotels Glasgow opened. The land registry shows that Richard Diamond and Rishipal Singh own Riverside House, adding a further layer to the prospect of a new owner being able to open the hotel without the planned amenities in the neighbouring building.