The “once in a lifetime” proposals were submitted earlier this year by CXG Glasgow Limited, a subsidiary of Tracey Investments Limited and owners of the Venlaw building and Elmbank Gardens, in conjunction with the owners of the property at 300 Bath Street.

Under the masterplan, phase one would cover student flats at Elmbank Gardens, a new healthcare facility, and other “active ground-floor uses such as shops, food and drink, and leisure”.

The second phase is set to include the redevelopment of 300 Bath Street, with private homes, offices and a hotel. It could also see the removal of the Tay House bridge.

Plans state the demolition of the bridge would “fully remove the visual barrier” at the Charing Cross junction, allowing a “future capping of the M8 to form a larger public space”.

The developers want to create “a new sustainable community around Charing Cross railway station” and have described the project as a “unique opportunity to redefine the western edge of Glasgow city centre”.

They added the current buildings were built between 30 and 60 years ago and are now “outdated and create an undesirable streetscape and hostile walking environment”.

Michael Laird Architects has worked with CXG Glasgow on the masterplan, with images submitted with the application showing how the removal of the bridge could look.

The office element of 300 Bath Street belongs to the building owner while Glasgow City Council owns the concrete bridge structure.

However, the plans state pre-application talks included an agreement that “removing this element of 300 Bath Street is key to opening up vistas north and south along the M8 corridor”.

They add: “This could also allow for the future implementation of the envisaged garden cap over the M8.”

A cap, or roof, over the motorway between Sauchiehall Street and Bath Street is an idea which has been under consideration by the council for several years now.

More detailed applications for each of the phases will now follow.