Elmbank Gardens clearance
Seven months after Reigart's machines moved in, the two 1960s blocks beside Charing Cross station have all but gone — and the cleared site will now wait a year for its tower.
20 August 2026
This is a major regeneration plan for the Elmbank Gardens/Venlaw office complex and the Tay House block on Bath Street, both earmarked for demolition and rebuilding. The scheme is being brought forward by CXG Glasgow Limited, a subsidiary of Tracey Investments Limited and owners of the Venlaw building and Elmbank Gardens, working with the owners of 300 Bath Street. Phase one focuses on around 750 student flats plus a health centre and shops, with a later phase bringing new homes, offices and a hotel and possibly removing the Tay House road bridge over the M8, all part of a scheme valued at roughly £250 million. Outline planning permission for the whole masterplan was granted in December 2024, detailed phase-one plans for the student building were approved in mid-2026, and demolition works have already begun on site. Further detailed applications for the second phase, covering the Bath Street building, are still to come.
Sources:Scottish Housing News: PPP granted·Architects' Journal: planning won for schemes·Construction Enquirer: £250m plans lodged·Glasgow Public Access - 24/00614/PPP·Glasgow Public Access - 25/01179/MSC
Summary drafted by AI from the planning record and press on 6 September 2026 · confidence: record+press
Demolition of the Venlaw building and the low-rise Elmbank Gardens block is scheduled to conclude this month, seven months after Reigart Contracts began clearing the way for the Charing Cross Gateway.
The work required approvals from both the council and Network Rail, given the site's position above the Finnieston rail cutting, and a temporary footway along Newton Street has maintained access to Charing Cross station throughout. The 13-storey former hotel tower at 10 Elmbank Gardens is being retained.
Curiously, none of this activity is visible on the council's planning portal. The demolition proceeded under a building warrant — granted in July 2025 on the Building Standards register — and the statutory notice that marks the legal start of works is not published at all. A reader of the planning record alone would believe the site untouched.
Once clearance completes, the site is expected to sit dormant until construction of the consented 620-bed student tower begins in 2027.