ScottishNews.com

The blaze broke out inside the three-storey derelict building at about 1.36am on Tuesday, 1 September.

At its height, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service sent nine appliances, a height appliance and three specialist resources to the scene. Firefighters worked for several hours and roads surrounding Sauchiehall Street, Dalhousie Street, Scott Street and Renfrew Street were closed.

No injuries were reported, but Police Scotland has confirmed that the fire is being treated as wilful. The incident has again exposed the risks created when large buildings remain empty and redevelopment plans fail to progress.

Jumpin’ Jaks forms part of the same prominent block as the former O2 ABC, which has stood derelict since it was badly damaged by the second Glasgow School of Art fire in June 2018. The ABC’s roof collapsed during that blaze, while the neighbouring Jumpin’ Jaks building was also extensively damaged. Eight years later, the site has still not been cleared or redeveloped.

The latest fire came weeks after residents raised concerns about people gaining access to the partially demolished ABC site.

Bill Beckett, chairman of Garnethill Neighbourhood Watch, said in July that there had been “umpteen reports of youngsters climbing in and gaining access”, with police called on several occasions.

Glasgow City Council said at the time that its building standards team had passed reports concerning the property to representatives of the owners, who were responsible for taking action.

The ABC had previously been declared a danger to the public because of its deteriorating condition. In August 2024, the council served a dangerous building notice requiring the removal of its unstable front and side façades, supporting floors, roof structures and other affected sections.

Council officials said an inspection had found that continued exposure to the weather was causing internal deterioration which threatened the stability of the façade. A safety exclusion zone had to be introduced on Sauchiehall Street.

The most dangerous sections were subsequently taken down. The council later said the remaining structure was no longer considered an immediate danger to people outside the site. Demolition stopped with sections of the building and piles of rubble still in place. Chamic Industrial Services, the contractor involved in the work, ceased trading in December 2025 and is now in liquidation.

There has been an attempt to redevelop this corner of Sauchiehall Street for a decade. Plans for a 185-bedroom student development on the Jumpin’ Jaks section were lodged in 2016. Glasgow City Council refused that proposal and Scottish ministers later rejected an appeal.

The current application covers the wider site former ABC building site at 292-332. House of Social, working with Vita Group, wants to build a nine-storey development containing 356 student bedrooms.

Its ground floor would become a publicly accessible food hall with space for five food businesses, more than 400 covers, a large bar and an events area.

The development represents an estimated investment of about £70 million and has been presented as a potential catalyst for the regeneration of the street.

Glasgow’s planning committee voted by eight votes to two in June 2025 that it was minded to grant permission, subject to conditions, a legal agreement and notification to Scottish ministers. The Scottish Government called in the application after Historic Environment Scotland maintained an objection.

The principal dispute is over the height and massing of the proposed building and its effect on the neighbouring Mackintosh Building at Glasgow School of Art.

The art school argues that the development would obstruct important views and reduce daylight reaching the south elevation of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s category A-listed masterpiece. The developer maintains that the scheme has been carefully designed and would return activity to one of the street’s most damaging gap sites.

Reporter Stuart West held a five-hour hearing in January and carried out a site inspection the following day. His report was originally expected to reach ministers in May or early June.

We are still waiting for that decision. The government’s case file shows that further written information was requested on 31 July. Additional material from Glasgow School of Art was received on 20 August and the applicant was then invited to comment.

The case remains listed as allocated to the reporter and no ministerial decision has been published. Two former nightlife venues remain caught between a safety intervention and an unresolved planning process.

Sauchiehall Street has endured a particularly damaging succession of fires and closures. Victoria’s nightclub and neighbouring buildings were destroyed by a major fire in March 2018. The Mackintosh Building and ABC were devastated three months later. The former BHS store remains empty, while the Centre for Contemporary Arts closed in January after entering liquidation.

This is happening despite substantial efforts to improve the street. Public-realm work has delivered wider pavements, cycle infrastructure, new trees and lighting, while a £2.3 million National Lottery Heritage Fund award is supporting the Sauchiehall Street Culture and Heritage District until the end of 2027.

Plans are also progressing for the redevelopment of the former Marks & Spencer building and the nearby Watt Brothers building.

Another fire shows that new paving and long-term strategies cannot, on their own, remove the risks posed by empty properties.

Until damaged buildings are properly secured, repaired or returned to productive use, Sauchiehall Street remains caught in a damaging cycle: buildings close, plans stall and local landmarks become monuments to intransigence.