THE regeneration of Glasgow’s waterfront is gathering pace, with a series of new developments at an eight-acre site at Central Quay tipped to strengthen links between the Finnieston district and Glasgow city centre.
Property developer PLATFORM has broken ground on its £100 million residential development for 498 apartments, which have been designed by Keppie. The development will offer a mix of studio, one, two and three-bedroom apartments for rent, spread across four blocks ranging from six to 20 storeys in height.
The office building already on site, 2 Central Quay, recently secured a letting to a film production company, comprising 30,000 sq ft with land for storage and production. There are also plans for the four acres of land to the north, facing on to the Clydeside Expressway, for a new office and hotel development and landscaping, including a public realm and pedestrian access.
Paul Broad, Avison Young director and head of business space, said, “This will be truly transformational and ‘place making’ regeneration at its best. It will not only advance the office and hotel development opportunities at Central Quay but enhance the opportunities for all the other developers and landowners in this waterfront location, who over the last 10 to 15 years have been looking for a catalyst to start their own mixed-use developments.
“Glasgow’s waterfront is its biggest asset, and it genuinely feels like we have turned a corner connecting the Finnieston district to Glasgow city centre.
“With the onset of the ‘Green Agenda’ many investors and property developers are looking inwards at what they can do and are trying to consider how they could be more sustainable and reduce their carbon footprint. When delivering new property development initiatives recycling redundant brownfield sites is an excellent way to be more sustainable by reducing the need to encroach into Greenbelt areas.”
Supported by property advisors Avison Young and CBRE, with Keppie architects, the site owner, Harbert Management Corporation, represented by asset managers XLB Property, expects the project redesign and master planning exercise to see around 200,000 sq ft of office space and a hotel with around 180 beds.
