Plan to replace city’s Buchanan Galleries
APLAN to demolish Buchanan Galleries is under way to pave the way for a massive transformation of the top of Glasgow’s famous shopping street.
The proposal is to “replace” the mall with a multi-purpose shopping, residential and office quarter.
It would see new public squares created, new streets with street level entry to shops and Buchanan Street opened up through to Killermont Street.
The Royal Concert Hall would not be affected by any plan.
Landsec, Buchanan Galleries’ owner, is in talks with the council for the huge redevelopment of the Galleries into a “new master-planned mixed-use quarter”.
It would also see work to cover the railway at Queen Street Station beside the current car park and include Dundas Street.
Work could start next year on a 10-year project, which is still at a concept stage.
The £850 million plan would be the most significant development in the city centre since the Buchanan Galleries was opened in 1999.
The news comes after the Glasgow Times revealed this week that Marks & Spencer is to move out of its Sauchiehall Street store after almost 100 years.
There are several empty units in Buchanan Galleries and on the street, with Top Shop, Burton, and Gap all leaving large voids.
Rather than pulling out of Glasgow, however, the owner says it is planning for the future and the transformation could see more than 850 construction jobs created each year during the build phase leading to over 9500 permanent jobs for the city centre.
Shops would form part of the new plan and discussions with major retailers in the centre, like John Lewis, would take place.
Glasgow City Council, which owns the land on which Buchanan Galleries sits, must agree to any development proposal.
It said the plan fits with the council’s agenda of moving away from single-use areas, like retail-only to multi-use, of retail, residential, leisure and offices.