A half-billion-pound development to rival the world famous Gleneagles is planned right next door to the hotel and golf course.
A five-star hotel, hundreds of luxury houses and a golf course capable of hosting major championships will sit side by side with the hotel and course which has hosted top golf tournaments and world leaders at the G8 summit in 2005.
Gleneagles Hotel abandoned a joint project with Ochil Developments, headed by a Dubai-based business family, to extend the hotel and grounds in a £300m Gleneagles West plan. Now a planning application for the new golf course and masterplan for the resort has been lodged by Ochil Developments on their own. The plan includes a championship golf course, clubhouse, hotel and residential and leisure-based housing.
Gleneagles Hotel, while stating it is hoped and expected the rival development will enhance the area and bring in more visitors, is considering the plans before making a submission to Perth and Kinross Council.
Ochil Developments, owned by the Al Tajir family who also own Highland Spring, hase engaged DMK Golf Design to draw up plans for the course. The design firm is also working on the new No 7 course at St Andrews, due to open next July, and is responsible for many courses in the UK and US.
The original joint plan was to extend and revamp the Gleneagles Hotel resort in time for hosting the 2014 Ryder Cup. Last year the deal unravelled and Gleneagles is now pressing ahead with its own less expensive proposal to refurbish the hotel and create a new spa and restaurant costing £18m.
Meanwhile Ochil has finalised plans for a new development.
The submission of the masterplan includes a 180 room five-star hotel, golf course of a standard equal to Gleneagles King's and Queen's courses and 250 houses.
Thirty principal residence houses will come with a minimum price tag of £3.4m and another 40 at £1.75m. Another 100 second homes will be build and 80 for sale on a shared ownership basis. A spokesman for Ochil Developments said: "We hope to commence construction next month with the golf course playable by 2010, by then the hotel should be operational. The houses will be phased and the overall development complete in nine years.
"The course will exceed the standard of many championship courses but the aim is not necessarily to host major tournaments. The total cost will be £500m."
The course designer David McLay Kidd has strong links with the course next door. His father Jimmy, also a director of DMK, was estates and golf course director at Gleneagles.
Paul Kimber, of DMK, said: "We have drawn inspiration from the King's and Queen's courses at Gleneagles. Obviously there is the connection with David's father and they are examples of excellent courses in a beautiful setting."
The land to the west of the Gleneagles Hotel and course was bought more than 30 years ago by Mahdi Mohammed Al Tajir whose nephew, billionaire businessman Maher Al Tajir, runs the Al Tajir group.
No-one from Gleneagles Hotel was available for an official comment yesterday.
In a letter to the council, surveyors Montagu Evans, acting on behalf of Gleneagles Hotel, said: "On behalf of our clients we formally request the right to reserve comment on the application until further assessment of the proposals can be carried out. It is our intention to submit these to you in early course."
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