February 6 2025

Glasgow City Council is to pursue the use of a Compulsory Purchase Order to acquire Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson’s Egyptian Halls on Union Street, after a committee gave its consent.

The decision begins the process of forcibly acquiring the crumbling structure to facilitate its development, should an interested party be found.

Last month The List emerged as a surprise contender to take on the A-listed property when it presented an informal £2m profit-sharing offer, in the form of a proportion of future revenues from a planned food hall and hotel. That was rejected by lead owner Derek Souter, who told Urban Realm there is no prospect of USP and USI (separate companies controlling the ground and upper floors) handing over title deeds without any guarantee of payment.

Councillor Ruairi Kelly said: “Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) can be lengthy and complex legal processes, but this decision gives the council the approval we need to explore how we can use these powers to acquire the Halls and put it on the path to restoration and a full and proper use.” 

A separate decision has been made to serve a repairs notice to the owners to undertake repairs to the facade and parapet wall, which have been shrouded in scaffolding for 15 years, to prevent further deterioration presenting a public safety issue. 

9 Comments

#1 Posted by John Russell on 6 Feb 2025 at 14:57 PM

This is possible good news that things are starting to happen. But why has the council left is so long? I responded to the consultation in 2011 about the proposed demolition of the halls. Given the council has been turning a blind eye to the city's historic architecture then more CPO's should be used to save the city's heritage from absent owners

#2 Posted by Spike on 6 Feb 2025 at 15:35 PM

Really hope this building is preserved
Remember reading sometime ago a museum dedicated to the slave trade was raised although with the lack of both capital and revenue funding this is now probably a non starter

#3 Posted by town planner on 6 Feb 2025 at 15:38 PM

There must be an American somewhere with a Glaswegian Granny and a few quid in their pocket?! Glasgow needs to tap into the Scottish diaspora better, can the council set up a mechanism to help facilitate this?

#4 Posted by Mark on 6 Feb 2025 at 22:53 PM

#3 - I can do better than that: I heard there's an influential American billionaire with a Scottish mother who started a new job on January 20th. I'd say it's worth giving Uncle Donald a call?

#5 Posted by Cadmonkey on 6 Feb 2025 at 23:47 PM

Why not a “Compulsory Sale Order”?
A CPO is hopeless. Glasgow Council has zero spare cash, so what are they going to do with it?
Force a sale to the open market please.

#6 Posted by Roddy_ on 6 Feb 2025 at 23:56 PM

What has become clear in this fiasco is that the laws governing listed buildings is simply not robust enough. So too the system of CPO-ing. It is expensive, convoluted, and can take an age. Remember back in 2018 when the Scottish Gov was meant to bring CSO's (Compulsory Sales Orders) forward in that Parliament. So far as I know this has been kicked into the long the grass with nary a bill or reading (please correct me if I'm wrong on this) . The provisions were specifically aimed at V&D land but could easily have been extended to include historic buildings too. This needs to be looked at again and our Heritage bodies (fine work that they already do) need to be making more noises about this. They have already been making noises about the levy of VAT on conservation vs VAT free on new-build - an astonishing state of affairs. But someone or someone or some body needs to pushing for CSO's to be legislated for and implemented. The current law is no longer fit for purpose and in the interim it is hard not to see another raft of heritage meet with the bulldozer.

https://www.landcommission.gov.scot/downloads/5dd6a16d88752_CSO-Proposal-final.pdf

#7 Posted by Falconhoof on 7 Feb 2025 at 11:12 AM

Incredible to think people have been born,went through schooling,started work/uni & have never seen this building!,the one under wraps at the corner of argyle st/miller st seems to be heading the same way,p.s. where were the council when the INDIA buildings needed intervention?.

#8 Posted by Lovely on 7 Feb 2025 at 12:47 PM

The CPO is entirely unsuitable, as it would be far too time-consuming. As others have noted, the council lacks the necessary funding. Furthermore, they already have listed buildings under their care (renovated with public funds) that they cannot manage effectively, as they currently stand empty.

Doubtless, there are other listed buildings in council ownership that require repair and repurposing, and this is not being addressed. CPO is unnecessary and makes no sense.

The statutory repairs notice is a start, but it's about 30 years overdue.

However, we should view this as positive news, as such notices, if done properly (which is in some doubt here TBH given the very poor track record) often trigger the sale of a building, leading to its revitalisation.

#9 Posted by Not a Clowncil Employee on 8 Feb 2025 at 17:36 PM

I’m sure Big Susan Aitken and Glasgow City Clowncil will manage to make a complete mess of it.

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