ReGlasgow

PLAN To Knock Down B-Listed West End Church Building For Flats

26 August, 2024 | Listed / Historic Buildings

A DEVELOPER has brought forward proposals for complete demolition of a historic West End church and construction of apartments.

Wemyss Properties is proposing 32 flats at the site of the former Hillhead Baptist Church, at the junction of Cresswell Street and Cranworth Street.

Units will range from one-bed studios to three-bed penthouses. There will be a garden courtyard and a rood terrace.

How the development is expected to look
A view of the building in 2019. The roof has since had to be removed.

The B-listed building has been vacated for about 20 years after the need for repairs meant it was no longer fit for purpose.

Wemyss Properties were selected as a development partner by the church in 2017 and planning permission to retain part of the façade and deliver 29 flats and facilities for the church and the wider community was granted in 2020.

But the developer says that the covid pandemic delayed progress over 2020-21, and the roof needed to be removed as an emergency measure because it was unstable. It also says the stonework has continued to deteriorate.

A design statement submitted with an application for listed building consent explains: “The consented scheme is no longer financially viable.

“Alternative ways to save the street frontages have been explored including full costings for hotel, leisure, student and short-term serviced accommodation. None of the alternative uses generate sufficient capital to fund the development.

” A further alternative of retaining only the entrance portico onto Cresswell Street has also been explored, but this was also found to render the development financially unviable.”

The statement continues: “The new proposal at Hillhead will provide a contemporary new corner buildings which completes the tenemental block and offers a range of high quality apartments.

“The design both reflects the traditional rhythm of existing tenements and re-purposes the corner bay. The street will be activated at ground floor with main door access into properties, which again seeks to emulate the arrangement of the tenemental block.”

The application is pending consideration by Glasgow City planners.

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