The Social Hub
An innovative hybrid hospitality development transforming a city centre gap site.
In September 2021, construction of what will become Scotland’s largest hotel began on Drum’s Candlerigg’s Square site in the heart of Glasgow’s historic Merchant City, heralding the £300 million transformation of one of the city’s most prominent development sites. The 215,000 square feet, 500-bed hotel will be the largest in Scotland by rooms, forms the first development phase of the much-anticipated regeneration of the 3.6-acre Candleriggs Square site now being delivered by a joint venture between Drum Property Group and Stamford Property Investments.
Candleriggs Square - bound by Wilson Street, Hutcheson Street, Candleriggs and Trongate - is regarded by many as the last and most significant piece of the Merchant City regeneration jigsaw. Originally home to Glasgow’s flourishing fruit and vegetable market, for most of the 20th century it was used as a department store before remaining unoccupied and derelict for more than two decades, following the closure of the last operator there in 1999.
Glasgow City Council initially approved plans for the hotel in May 2020, as well as granting approval for ‘Planning Application in Principle’ for the entire 3.6-acre site. The hotel opened for business in May 2024 and marks the beginning of the development proposals which will eventually deliver a high-quality mixed-use scheme combining homes, offices, hotels, restaurants and local amenities with landscaped open spaces and accessible walkways, together with a new public square at the heart of the development.
www.candleriggs-square.com
