WORK has started on a £45million housing development on the former site of BBC Scotland.

 

David Wilson Homes plans to build 94 luxury properties on the West End site in a development called The Botanics.

It will include 75 two, three and four bed duplex apartments and 19 three and four bed townhouses on land next to the Botanic Gardens.

The Botanics will occupy the site of the former BBC buildings off Queen Margaret Drive and Hamilton Drive offering views of the River Kelvin and the Botanics.

The first homes will be available to buy this summer and are expected to be ready to move into in spring next year.

David Scott, managing director of David Wilson Homes in the west of Scotland, said: "This is one of the most sought-after locations in Glasgow and work is already underway on 94 luxury new homes.

"Great quality property in this part of the city is always in high demand, and our new townhouses and apartments are already generating a great deal of interest from prospective buyers."

The 3.4 acre site was the home of the BBC from 1936 until 2007 when it relocated to Pacific Quay.

Part of the original site, which included the B listed North Park House and Charles Rennie Mackintosh's anatomy building Queen Margaret College, is understood to have been sold to Stefan King's G1 Group for residential and office use.

A planning application last year for the site resulted in 37 letters of objection from residents and from a number of heritage and community groups.

They included the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, the Mackintosh Heritage Group, Friends of the River Kelvin, Greek Thomson Sixty Steps Preservation Trust and Friends of Glasgow West.

Objectors said the new housing development would impact on the conservation area and in particular on the Mackintosh building.

But Richard Brown, the city council's executive director of development and regeneration, said at the time: "The proposals will open up views through the site to the river and provide an element of green space within the site in keeping with the rest of the conservation area."

For more information about The Botanics or to register interest in the development, visit www.dwh.co.uk or call 08448 117 788.