Glasgow is to see a sizeable addition to its stock of Grade A office space in a few years time thanks to a newly initiated redevelopment project focussed on a currently empty former bank building in the centre of the city.
Construction work will begin in January 2013 at the earmarked 110 Queen Street site, where 143,000 sq ft of Grade A offices and 20,000 sq ft of retail space will be delivered in 2015.
The scheme is being lead by the BAM construction group and supported by the Scottish government, which is keen to see its largest city compete more effectively with business hubs across the UK and Europe in terms of available office space.
Hundreds of jobs in central Glasgow will be supported by the initiative, which has been made possible by a total of £50 million worth of funding. BAM will invest £40.4 million in the scheme, while the remaining £9.4 million has been taken on as a loan from the government-backed Scottish Partnership for Regeneration in Urban Centres.
“This is terrific news for Glasgow and the wider construction sector, and is testament to the confidence investors have that BAM can deliver the largest office development to be built outside of London in a number of years,” said John Burke, executive director of BAM Construct UK.
“It is our firm belief that this significant development will give Glasgow a competitive advantage by providing new quality office space, which is scarce, to established companies looking for long term growth, and help to attract inward investors to the city.”
The BAM Group is among the largest construction businesses in Europe with thousands of projects currently on-going and a near 28,000 strong workforce around the world. Back in October, the company announced that the international steel production and mining giant ArcelorMittal had let nearly 9,000 sq ft of its offices in Solihull.