£75m plan for BHS site
Remodelling of collapsed retailer’s site ‘will attract investment to city’
THE prominent city-centre building set to be vacated by collapsed retailer BHS has been earmarked for a £75 million redevelopment.
Blueprints for a 12-storey project in the city centre have already been submitted to Glasgow planners amid claims the complex will transform the area around Sauchiehall Street, which has fallen into decline over the last 15 years.
Once the commercial heart of the city centre, it was thought the exodus of BHS may add to its deterioration.
Developers Formal Investments said Sauchiehall Street would “see a vast visual improvement thanks to a new look for the BHS building”.
Plans involve the “remodelling and refurbishment of the building occupied by a BHS store which will add new boutique offices above the retail space and the improvement of a third building on Sauchiehall Street”.
In total the plans cover an area of 240,000 sq ft which will including retail and “Grade A and design-style offices”, replacing the 1969built brown brick department store.
Glasgow Chamber of Commerce deputy chief executive Richard Muir said: “This is good news for the city centre in general and for Sauchiehall Street in particular, on what is a key location.
“It’s recognised that there is a shortage of Grade A office space in Glasgow.
“This redevelopment will begin to address this shortage and help attract new investment to the city.”
The development will extend on to Renfield Street and Bath Street and into neighbouring properties recently acquired by the company behind the scheme
Formal Investments director Nicholas King said: “This proposal shows a really exciting vision for an important site in Glasgow city centre and will provide the highest quality environments for retailers and business large and small.”
Patrick Wilson, of Glasgow architectural practice Stallan-Brand, which will develop the plans, said: “This redevelopment presents a unique opportunity to revitalise and transform the quality of the urban environment and public realm in this location, through the creation of new public spaces and improved and more appropriate mixed use activity.”
It comes as BHS begins shutting stores across the UK, with 20 closing their doors and as many as 600 staff being made redundant.
In all, the collapse of BHS has put 11,000 jobs at risk and left a £571m pension deficit.
The plans also come as it emerges the Hard Rock International brand has signed a deal for a new hotel in Glasgow, only its second in the UK.
The old Athenaeum building on Buchanan Street is currently home to the city’s Hard Rock Cafe, but the company has released no other details other than to see the Glasgow plan is part of its UK expansion.
Last year Formal Investment also took a long lease on the adjoining properties which have housed Sports Direct and Mountain Warehouse.
It said work would begin in the summer of 2017 and create business offices for approximately 1,750 workers.