THIS £30million luxury hotel development is poised to transform an ugly gap site in the middle of Glasgow's Merchant City.

THIS £30million luxury hotel development is poised to transform an ugly gap site in the middle of Glasgow's Merchant City.

Our exclusive first glimpse gives an idea of the 200-bedroom hotel that city-based Montgomery Property wants to build.

The six-storey building would have shops at ground floor level, on a site in Ingram Street behind the City Halls.

Hotels opening up

SOME of the other developments about to get under way in Glasgow:
  • The £125million, 26-storey Argyle International hotel is planned in the city's International Financial Services District near the Radisson SAS.
  • A four-star Crowne Plaza and three-star Express by Holiday Inn are planned as part of the £140m Bothwell Plaza project.
  • A 20-storey glass tower hotel is planned by the world's biggest hotel chain Staybridge for Jamaica Street in Glasgow city centre.
  • Hospitality giant Hilton is behind plans for a 250-plus bed hotel on the banks of the Clyde at the SECC's Glasgow Harbour site. The hotel would be part of the Hilton Group's Garden Inn brand, which has been compared with Novotel and Holiday Inn.

If it gets the go-ahead, work would begin this December, and would be finished by May 2010.

Company managing director James Montgomery said he is in negotiations with a hotel chain which does not at present operate in the city.

He added: "It will be a luxury, four-star, design led hotel.

"It will have a minimalist feel through the rooms and public areas, which we think will fit in well in the Merchant City.

"The great thing about the Merchant City is that it has a wonderful Bohemian feel because of the mix of operators we have there.

"There are small independently-owned restaurants alongside major international brands.

"I think it is wonderful, and is the kind of mix you see a lot in Hong Kong and New York."

The development will incorporate 27,000sq ft of shopping and conference facilities capable of catering for around 400 people.

Mr Montgomery added: "We have been restricted to six storeys because the planners are conscious nothing should detract from the Ramshorn Church across the road, which is an exceptionally beautiful building.

"Opening in 2010 means the hotel will be a mature operation by the time the Commonwealth Games come around, and that will be a good thing."

The planned site of the hotel previously housed tenements and is now used as a pay-and-display car park.

Local councillor Gordon Matheson welcomed the new hotel plan. He said: "I warmly welcome this proposal because there has been a gap site there for long enough.

"The hotel will help attract even more visitors to the city centre and will certainly enhance the vibrancy of the Merchant City.

"This plan represents a very significant investment in the area, and will complement the other investments in Ingram Street.

A total of 12 neighbours have objected to the new hotel plan, but Merchant City Community Council, which was given a detailed presentation on the scheme, is not among them.

Steve Inch, Glasgow City Council's executive director of development and regeneration, says in a report: "The hotel includes meeting rooms, a conference facility, restaurant, small exercise room, and is entered off the Albion Street corner via a double height grand staircase.

"Hard landscaping works will be undertaken to all footways surrounding the development to the public realm standard currently being implemented by the council along the remaining parts of Ingram Street."