A new business community is taking shape in Glasgow’s east end as an ‘ambitious and far-sighted’ masterplan by Spectrum Properties nears completion and breathes new life into the former industrial area.
The property investor has saved many buildings which are part of the Glasgow’s Victorian heritage by re-purposing them for commercial use. In its latest venture, Spectrum is investing close to £20 million in the development in Dalmarnock, centred on the new Spectrum House, which is tipped to act as a magnet for further economic activity in the upcoming district.
The site is using innovative thinking to reduce its carbon footprint, such as employing modular buildings which were originally used as high-specification offices at the London Olympics in 2012.
The project, which has been years in the planning, is bounded by French Street, Dora Street, Norman Street and the A728 Clyde Gateway, and is expected to bring an ‘unprecedented’ number of new jobs to the east end. It includes:
- Total refurbishment of a series of listed buildings in French Street, with new roofs, windows, walls and floors. Work is now completed on this element of the project and tenants have been secured for all the accommodation.
- New industrial units, to the extent of 12,000 square ft, which are also now completed and have been fully let.
- The centrepiece of the project, Spectrum House, which will serve as Spectrum Properties’ new HQ, is a ‘radically designed’ construction of modular sections with a ‘striking’ industrial aesthetic, including a light-filled glass atrium. The property will include a four-floor, 44,000 square ft business centre to accommodate flexible working and to be known as Cube HQ. It is due to be completed and occupied by the end of the year.
- A business centre, of 30,000 square ft, which is 30% into its development and is scheduled for completion by 2026.
- A bakery and café, for which the company has planning consent and which it intends to have operational in 2026.
- A car park with 120 spaces.
Bill Roddie, director of Spectrum Properties, said, “The masterplan for the Dalmarnock project envisages not just a series of developments, but the deliberate building of a thriving, bustling new community in the east end with jobs, opportunities and real economic purpose. We have been a part of the east end’s resurgence for the last 37 years and we know, understand and respect its huge potential. The activity centred on the new Spectrum House will create a crucible for new businesses and viable enterprises.
“The office market is changing, away from long-term leases to the new environment of hybrid working and we will have dedicated desks, offices and flexible leases to meet the needs of this new generational trend.”
Spectrum Properties also has planning consent for 90,000 square ft of office accommodation, to be converted to residential use and developed over the next 3-4 years.
The Spectrum House masterplan frees up its former HQ in the Strathclyde Business Centre in Carstairs Street, which has full planning consent for conversion to 106 residential units in the building and on the surrounding ground.
