Glasgow is appealing to UK and international investors with a new ‘pitchbook’ showcasing over £2 billion in urban regeneration and real estate projects.
Fifteen capital investment projects have been outlined in a launch document aimed at developers as part of efforts to transform the city centre and its environs.
Council leaders are hoping to rejuvenate central run-down areas, the waterfront and innovation districts as part of plans to double the city centre population to 40,000 by 2035.
The plans outline 11 investment opportunities including the redevelopment of the Yorkhill Hospital campus and the Broomielaw area on the banks of the Clyde.
They also include plans to redevelop the Candleriggs Square area in the heart of the popular Merchant City, as well as a vision to support the city’s up-and-coming innovation districts.
Susan Aitken, council leader, said: “The Glasgow Pitchbook illustrates both the transformation of the city – from the city centre and the waterfront to the innovation districts – currently taking place and the growth and investment opportunities driven by and presented through this transformation.
“Much of what is taking place in the city is coming from high-growth sectors that will increasingly contribute to Glasgow’s economy in the future.”
In a foreword to the 24-page document, she concedes that Glasgow has ‘felt the impact of the pandemic’, especially in the city centre, and that a new city centre strategy aims to ‘guide the renaissance of the city in the coming years’.
She adds: “Mixed use developments such as Love Loan, Buchanan Galleries, St Enochs and Candleriggs Square will play a significant role in reshaping the city centre offering a vibrant mix of commercial, residential, retail, leisure and high-quality public realm, creating destinations that better reflect how and where citizens want to live, work and play.
“These new destinations will be complemented by repurposed properties throughout the city centre and the council is lobbying for more powers to allow this activity to take place more easily and quickly.”
The ‘once-in-a-generation transformational projects’ include:
11 Investment Opportunities
- Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District (AMIDS)
- Yorkhill Hospital Campus
- Glasgow Riverside Innovation District (GRID)
- SEC Expansion
- Broomielaw Mills
- Broomielaw
- Riverside Innovation Centre
- Applecross Wharf
- Candleriggs Square
- Glasgow City Innovation District (GCID)
- Clyde Gateway Green Regeneration
Four Residential Development Sites
- Drumchapel
- Robroyston
- Millerston
- Howford
The two sites on the Broomielaw – as well as Candleriggs, Glasgow City Innovation District and the Riverside Innovation Centre – reflect the scale and pace of city centre development and will compliment public realm works such as the avenues, city centre greening and the re-development of George Square.
Major recent office, residential, hospitality and public realm developments have seen investments of almost £1billion come to Glasgow while also transforming whole sections of the city centre. However, there have also been setbacks, including the recent news that the proposed £60 million redevelopment of the iconic Met Tower has been cancelled by developers, Bruntwood SciTech.
Creating an accessible, modern city centre at the heart of the metropolitan region for residents, businesses and visitors are part of the strategy’s three pillars of ‘magnetic experience’, ‘front door to innovation’ and a ‘place to live’.
Hosting bigger international conferences are also part of the plans. The document contains a programme of works to expand the Scottish Event Campus (SEC), so that the venue can stage two conferences of scale at the same time and attract ‘bigger blockbuster events’.
Expansion plans also include a new hotel on the campus. It is anticipated the campus expansion could replicate the “Hydro effect” that prompted the regeneration of Finnieston in other areas around the Clyde. The SEC Explansion plan is complete with a net zero energy strategy that would not only power the campus but support a large scale heat network and locally produced power for the Clyde corridor.
The strategy also focuses on support for the city’s three innovation districts, which form the so-called “innovation corridor” – led by the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde.
Together the districts aim to address the productivity challenge through innovation, raise levels of research and development (R&D) spend, draw greater private investment, generate new businesses and promote faster growth in key sectors.