A renowned Scottish golf resort located next to Gleneagles has been put up for sale, nearly two decades after it was first unveiled to great fanfare and stalled development.
Offers are being invited for gWest in Perth and Kinross, which extends to around 639 acres and includes an 18-hole, David McLay Kidd-designed championship golf course and clubhouse shell, inspired by noted 18th-century Scottish architect Colen Campbell.
The golf course was originally completed in 2009, but very few have had the opportunity to play it. Owned by the Al-Tajir family – of Highland Spring fame – the estate was first unveiled in 2007 with ambitions to rival its famous neighbour, offering a private, gated community built around the course, along with an elaborate clubhouse styled on Mereworth Castle in Kent, completed in 2012.
Since then, wider development has repeatedly stalled, with the family previously pointing to political and economic instability – including the 2008 financial crisis, the Scottish independence referendum and Brexit – as reasons the resort was never built out. As a result, gWest has become something of a golfing curiosity, sometimes dubbed Scotland’s “ghost course”: a championship-standard layout, praised by the small number of golfers who have played it, including former Open champion Henrik Stenson, that has sat largely untouched for over a decade despite continuing to be maintained.
The estate has planning consent for up to 170 residential plots, a hotel and spa, leisure and entertainment facilities, and staff accommodation.
Euan Kelly, partner at Knight Frank Edinburgh, said: “It is incredibly rare that an opportunity like gWest becomes available. We’re expecting a huge amount of interest from across the globe in what could be a once-in-a-lifetime asset: a substantial consented resort development site, with a golf course designed by a celebrated architect, in one of Scotland’s most prestigious leisure locations.
“While the bold ambitions for the site have yet to fully come to fruition, a sale could see them take an important step forward and add another destination to Scotland’s, and Perthshire’s, strong tourist offering.”
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