Argyll and Bute Council has approved plans for a restaurant and apartments on a prominent site on Oban’s Corran Esplanade.
The accommodation will extend over three upper floors and includes a restaurant on the ground floor.
The property will be built on the former Argyll Hotel site that was demolished in 2011.
It includes 15 open plan apartments, varying in size from 350 sq ft , 450 sq ft and 500 sq ft . Each has its own seating area, bathroom and kitchen.
The restaurant is 2,350 sq ft with glass facing towards the street.
No vehicle access
The site overlooks Oban’s busy North Pier and harbour area.
The application was lodged by Callum McLeod.
Mr McLeod, a businessman from Oban, also has interests in the successful Ee-usk and Piazza restaurants.
Earlier plans for the site were lodged in 2023 for a 63-bed hotel, in 2017 for a 28-bed hotel, and before that various applications were made to turn the, then hotel, into permanent flats and increase the size of the bar.
For the past few years a pop-up business, The Fish Box, has operated from the former Argyll Hotel site, selling tacos and fish dishes.
Planning conditions state that there will be no vehicle access from the site onto the A85 trunk road. Planners said this was to minimise interference with the safety and free flow of the traffic on the trunk road.
A number of conditions of the planning approval need to be met prior to the development of the area taking place.
These include a waste management strategy, plans for landscaping and biodiversity, and samples of material to be used in the construction have to be provided to council planners.
Mrs Cameron
MP Alistair Carmichael, who grew up in Islay and lodged in the hotel as a child with his family said it was “good news”.
The representative for the Northern Isles, said: “I was in Islay last week visiting family and we were remembering our visits to Oban and to the Argyll Hotel.
“It was where all the islanders stayed. Mrs Cameron was the landlady and she ruled the place well.
“Being right on the Corran Esplanade you could feel every car or lorry that went down the street.
He continued: “If you, like us, had no money you stayed at the Argyll Hotel, while the richer people stayed at the nearby Columba Hotel.
“It will be great to see what they do with the site.”
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