Spirited future for Glasgow’s Pacific Quay
The completion of one of Scotland’s most high-profile waterfront development sites has moved a step closer following the submission of a £30 million planning application to Glasgow City Council by Drum Property Group.
Drum is working with Scottish Enterprise to develop a 7.5-acre site at Pacific Drive, which lies at the heart of Glasgow’s Pacific Quay and forms a significant part of the final stages of the wider masterplan for the area.
The proposals for this phase are for a mixed-use site bringing together homes and offices with restaurants and bars, as well as a new £10m urban whisky distillery, bottling plant and visitor centre operated by Douglas Laing & Co.
The development will sit alongside the Canting basin of the former Prince’s Dock and is set to provide a natural centrepiece for the wider Pacific Quay area.
Future phases planned by Drum will see additional business space and amenities being developed, delivering a £67m project by completion.
Graeme Bone, group managing director of Drum, said: “This is a hugely important planning application for Pacific Quay, which has seen unprecedented growth during the last decade and is now regarded as Scotland’s most important location for broadcasting, media and creative industries.
“Our proposals combine high quality residential and office development with a café culture, bringing amenities to an area which currently lacks facilities and services and is seldom occupied after 5pm.
“We want this to be a vibrant social quarter which will be visited, occupied and enjoyed during the day, evening and night, creating a genuine sense of identity and excitement both within and outside of the workplace.
Formerly part of the commercial dock operated by Clyde Port Authority, Pacific Quay was used for the Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988 before being transformed a business and leisure destination.
The area is now home to the headquarters of BBC Scotland and STV, and sits adjacent to the SSE Hydro and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.
The proposed plans include 20,000sq ft of Grade A office space, 60 residential homes and apartments as well as café and restaurant units overlooking the Canting basin.
On the development of the distillery, Cara Laing, the company’s director of whisky, said: “We have long held an ambition for the company to operate its own distillery and bottling operation in Glasgow and our proposals will bring whisky distilling back to the south side of the city.
“We will be creating jobs and generating significant additional high-value exports, as well as becoming an additional high profile tourist attraction for the city.
“We are proud of our Glasgow heritage and are delighted to be part of this project on the banks of the Clyde, right in the very heart of Glasgow.” Scottish Enterprise acquired the wider Pacific Quay area in 1991 and has been instrumental in bringing together a wide range of investment partners to progress the development.
Allan Mcquade, business infrastructure director at Scottish Enterprise, added: “This project represents an exciting opportunity to create an outstanding development at a key strategic site for Glasgow, bringing new opportunities for economic growth to the city and more widely across Scotland.
“This is one of the key remaining waterfront sites to be developed in Glasgow, and follows Barclay’s announcement to develop a new stateof-the-art campus at Drum’s Buchanan Wharf site, south of the Clyde.”
“Our proposals will bring whisky distilling back to the south side of the city” CARA LAING DOUGLAS LAING & CO