A historic Glasgow building is set for a new lease of life as a commercial destination.
The B-listed Teacher building was built in 1875, designed by architect James Boucher. It was built to house the headquarters, offices, and dram shop of William Teacher & Son.
Shepherd Chartered Surveyors has revealed it has leased the upper floors of the building to Sonder and is bringing to market a city centre bar and restaurant opportunity on the ground and lower ground floors.
The upper floors are currently undergoing a refurbishment and have full consent for the provision of 25 serviced apartments for short-term accommodation. The apartments will be operated by Sonder, a global hospitality specialist.
Shepherd said this presents an ‘outstanding opportunity’ for a food and drink operator to occupy the ground and lower ground floor space. The accommodation, which has consent for a public house/restaurant with outside seating, is currently in a shell condition.
The building is located on the western side of St. Enoch Square.
Steve Barnett, managing partner at Shepherd Chartered Surveyors, said, “Having been involved in a number of hotel transactions within the immediate locale, including the sale of the iconic Custom House and now the Teacher building, we are delighted to secure Sonder as operator for its upper floors as part of its overall expansion drive.
“With plans to open this summer, the 25 serviced apartments will be designed to balance the building’s whisky heritage with contemporary design.”
Will Kingston, associate director of real estate at Sonder, added, “We’re thrilled to expand within such an iconic landmark building in the heart of Glasgow city centre. We expect to accommodate local and international visitors travelling for both business and leisure, and our bespoke fit-out will be complementary to the original fabric of the building as part of its wider regeneration.
“We are delighted to work alongside the Landlord and Shepherd to bring this exciting project to fruition. Redeveloping vacant buildings into exciting new places helps bring visitors into vibrant city centres like Glasgow.”
The property has planning permission to create a ground floor restaurant/bar (Class 3) with the capacity for 101 covers and a further 110 bar capacity with additional outside seating areas.
Mr Barnett added, “We are currently seeking a leisure operator to complement the upper floor use as a high quality bespoke serviced apartment building run by an international operator.”
