Landmark site set for £ 20m revamp after Easdale deal
● Former Watt Brothers store purchased ● Homes and hotel earmarked in plans
The f ormer Watt Brothers department store in Glasgow city centre has been bought by busi nessmen brot hers S andy and James Easdale who are planning a £ 20 million revamp of the site.
The historic building, which is situated on the corner of Sauchiehall Street and Bath Street, has been vacant since the store fell into administration last year.
The Ea s d a l e s , who own bus group Mcgill’s and are f ormer Rangers directors, have now reached a deal with Watt Brothers’ administrators KPMG to save the 80,000 square foot art deco building.
They are planning a mixeduse development with hotel and residential accommodation the most likely option.
The Sauchiehall Street site brings the value of current property and construction projects being led by the Easdales to around £ 400m.
Sandy Easdale said the Watt
Brothers store was a “landmark building loved by generations of Glaswegians”.
He said: “It was sad to see the store close last year, but when the opportunity arose to purchase the building and redevelop it for the future, then we knew we had to take it.
“We believe t he building has great potential for hotel and residential use and we’re already engaged with expert consultants to see what can be achieved. It has a proud past and we are certain it will have an even brighter future.”
The nor t hern end of t he building was i nitially cons t r ucted i n 1 914 and l at er e x t e n d e d i n t o t h e s o u t hern building that fronts Bath Street, linked at second and third floors by an archway over Sauchiehall Lane.
A third building on Sauchiehall Lane was added to the ownership in the 1980s. The property has been in department store use since initial construction. The building is Category B Listed and located within the Central Area Conservation Area.
Amongst the other projects the Easdales are involved with are a £ 250m, 850- home housing development at a 130- acre site in Glenrothes. The development, in partnership with Advance Construction at the former Tullis Russell paper mill, will f eature 850 new homes, a care home, retire - ment vil l age, commercial, retail and leisure space and has already been approved by Fife Council.
They are also spearheading plans for a £ 100m development at the former IBM plant at Spango Valley, Greenock, which would include up to 450 new homes, alongside areas of new employment, leisure, community and retail use.
Wat t B r o t h e r s f i l e d f o r administration last year after more than a century in business.
The company had operated from 11 stores and had more than 300 staff.
Although the company had seen sales increase in recent years, peaking at £ 24m in 2018, it had faced growing competition from e- commerce and new discount retailers and had been loss- making when administrators were appointed.