Talks can begin over the sale of council land near Celtic Park to a firm planning to build an events venue.
Council officials will now negotiate with Aghoco 5011 Ltd, which owns “scrub land” to the south of the site at the bottom of Dalriada Street, just off London Road, after securing approval from councillors.
A council official said he believed the company was part of a group owned by Glasgow businessman James Mortimer. Lynn Mortimer, his daughter, is listed as a firm director on Companies House.
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The family’s company, Lynnet Leisure, owned private members Club 29 which has shut down and the Rogano restaurant, which has been closed since the beginning of the covid pandemic.
Plans for the Dalriada Street site include a two-storey events venue with an outdoor seating area, a council report revealed. Five steel containers would be used as hot food takeaway outlets.
Old plans stated the venue could host live music events, corporate dinners, weddings and fashion shows. However, the council report revealed talks are ongoing over a revised planning application for “a similar use”.
Another firm, One Star Leisure Ltd, secured a licence to sell alcohol from the site in March last year. At the time, a lawyer representing that company told the city’s Licensing Board there were plans for "something akin to a smaller version of the SWG3 type operation in the West End”.
The council official said the site was “effectively an old road” which had been the subject of a stopping up order so is now a “dead end”.
He added Aghoco 5011 Ltd is also in discussions with Celtic over the plan, adding: “There will be an impact on Celtic plc because the area of land just covers the entrance to one of their car parks, so if the development was to take place that entrance would need to be moved.”
The firm contacted the council in May 2022 to show interest in acquiring the land as it formed part of the area covered by its planning consent. Any sale would be subject to a specific planning consent or application, council officials reported.
Cllr Cecilia O’Lone, who represents the Calton ward, said: “I’m quite happy to see this, that piece of land around this area does need to be developed in some way, it still looks like waste. I’m sure once that’s all tidied up, it’ll benefit the whole area.”
She said the plans would bring “new things to the area”. “It’s not just about the football ground, it is about creating space for other things to be happening as well.”
The final terms of a sale will go back before councillors for approval before a deal is agreed.
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