Developer tells of big plans for city as public views sought
PROPERTY development firm Osborne+Co is “making things happen in Glasgow”, says Will Hean. The company’s development director is working on three projects in the city: revamping the Met Tower, a major office building on Argyle Street and a 700-home development at Lancefield Quay.
Today, his team will hold an online consultation on the riverside housing plan, and they want to hear what Glaswegians think about their ideas.
Alongside the property arm of construction firm McAleer & Rushe, they are proposing to build 400 build-to-rent homes and 300 properties for private sale on land, vacant since 2007, between Elliott Street and Lancefield Street.
Mr Hean believes his firm’s plans align with Glasgow City Council’s city centre living strategy, which aims to double the population to 40,000 over the next 15 years.
“We’re builders by background and we make our money by building things rather than buying sites, sitting on them and moving them on,” he says.
“There’s lots of bits of Glasgow which have been neglected for years and have maybe been bought by speculators rather than people who wanted to get on and build things.”
Photos revealing how the homes could look have now been released as the project is opened up to the community.
“We’ve been working in a vacuum with our team and partners,” Mr Hean says. “We’re trying to bring the public’s thoughts into it at this stage to design a space they want and feel the area would benefit from.”
He wants the area to become a “stopping off point” from the city centre to the West End, or the Hydro and SEC. The firm will also try to “re-energise” the riverside and is looking into the idea of a “floating deck” for a bar or restaurant.
A planning application is expected to be submitted in spring, with hopes of getting on site by early 2022.
“Something I heard some time ago is whenever Glasgow turns its back to the river, it turns its back to prosperity, and whenever Glasgow does well, Scotland does well,” Mr Hean says.
“So, by definition, we must refocus towards the river. That’s what we’re doing.”
Osborne+Co, led by father and son Jim and Conor Osborne, bought the Lancefield Quay site in 2014.
Across the three developments, the firm is investing more than £200 million in the city.
US financial services giant JP Morgan Chase will move into the 13-storey office building on Argyle Street once Osborne+Co has completed the development.
Previously home to a warehouse, the site, vacant for 20 years, was once earmarked for a luxury hotel by the Jumeirah Group but the plans were abandoned.
Planning permission for the Met Tower scheme was secured late last year, allowing the firm to turn the building into new offices, with a connected 260-bed hotel.
The former City of Glasgow College building is known for its large, pink “People
Make Glasgow” sign. Osborne+Co believe it will be “attractive” to tech firms due to its location at the heart of the University of Strathclyde’s Glasgow City Innovation District.
There will be a viewing platform, looking towards George Square, for the offices and a rooftop bar is planned in the hotel.
Covid-19 has thrown up challenges for the company as the construction industry slowed down, but Mr Hean is confident about the future of city centre offices post-pandemic. “We’re working with some very interesting designers from London,” he says. “They presented us plans for the Met Tower, showing the layout of an office, and there’s no rows of desks. It was all collaborative spaces. “That’s going to be the future of the offices, it’s somewhere you come to meet people, to work with your team to set out the agenda for that week. Then you go back to your houses and do the work yourself there.”
Businesses will still “want cool places to work in”, he believes, but thinks they might downsize. “Everyone from now on will probably work a lot more flexibly and I think that’s a great thing, particularly for people who had to commute.”
Office working brings “creative energy” and opportunities for younger staff to learn, he says.
Osborne+Co is also working on a major office and residential site in Belfast, by the River Lagan, and is building a UK headquarters and tech hub in Milton Keynes for Santander.
But the company also has an eye on future developments in Scotland.
“We like Glasgow,” Mr Hean says. “We’ve got a great team and a great bunch of professional teams that we work with, which might enable us to hopefully get a few more deals in the next few years.”
To join the Lancefield Quay consultation, visit the project website at www.lancefield-quay.com or phone 0800 987 5990 between 3pm and 7pm today.
We must refocus towards the river