Collegelands development will bring 3000 jobs to Glasgow

 

Author - Gordon Thomson © Evening Times Originally published: 13/7/2010

A sprawling Glasgow development will create 3000 jobs and boost the city’s economy by £110 million every year.

The full impact of the £200m Collegelands development was revealed today as work starts on phase one of Britain’s biggest new-start regeneration programme.

The double boost is being triggered by developers who are going back to the future by transforming a sprawling site which has lain derelict for more than 25 years.

Collegelands was the original site of Glasgow University where economist and philosopher Adam Smith was a student before lecturing as a professor prior to his appointment as rector.

It will soon again be home to hundreds of students studying at universities and colleges in the city. Phase one includes accommodation for 640 students as well as new offices for almost 1000 council workers. A multi-storey car park and a hotel is planned. All will be built and ready for occupation by October next year.

Dubbed Britain’s biggest new-start regeneration programme, it’s also billed as a gateway from the city centre to the East End. Bounded by Duke Street and the High Street, a distinctive red brick wall on the site’s perimeter will remain in place.

The site housed the City of Glasgow Union Railway when Glasgow University moved out in 1870 after 410 years. The brick wall in Duke Street belonged to the goods warehouse. It will be incorporated into a new office building which will accommodate around 980 workers.

Council chiefs have decided to close several offices and centralise staff at Collegelands. More than 700 workers in admin, finance, human resources, customer care and IT will be moved along with 270 staff at Glasgow Life, the renamed Culture & Sport Glasgow.

The shake-up will see Glasgow Life move out of the Tontine Complex at Trongate with the rest of the workforce leaving Nye Bevan House in Charing Cross.

More than 150 jobs will be created by the hotel and the student accommodation.

Talks are ongoing between the developer and a hotel operator.

Collegelands will also generate hundreds of jobs during construction. It is costing £200million and when completed in seven years is expected to created around 3000 jobs which will help inject an extra £110m into the local economy. The masterplan for the site, which covers almost 17 acres, also includes more offices, retail units and residential homes.

The developer is the Prestwick-based Dawn Group in partnership with Glasgow City Council and Standard Life Investments. Today, in an exclusive interview with the Evening Times, Alan Macdonald, chairman of the Dawn Group, said: “Collegelands will create a gateway from central Glasgow to the East End which is seeing dramatic changes thanks to the developments surrounding the 2014 Games and revitalise a site that has lain derelict for over 25 years.

“As the largest new-start regeneration project currently in the UK, the sheer scale of Collegelands makes it a significant development. However, the real impact of the 1.1m sq ft site will be to the local, and indeed wider, Scottish economy as it creates employment and drives growth.

“We expect the construction process itself to offer direct employment to 1600 people throughout the build period. We are committed to taking staff from the local area wherever possible.

“We work with local recruitment agencies to source the labour resources we need.

“Collegelands brings with it a long-term legacy… an economic impact study identified that around 3000 jobs, primarily in the service sectors, are expected to be created once the site is fully operational.

“The first phase of development contains 103,000sq ft office building for Glasgow City Council.

Almost 1000 staff will be employed in this building which will generate business activity and spending power for the local economy.

“The 200-bed hotel means work for around 120 staff.

“The 640 bed accommodation for students will bring a further influx of spending which will see existing firms thrive and could provide an impetus for new ventures.”

City council leader Gordon Matheson who this week was on site to help a cable for the new car park said: “I am delighted that the Collegelands development is progressing well.

“Delivering a sizeable amount of commercial and office space, new homes and amenity space for the public, Collegelands will create a vibrant and exciting area in Glasgow and complement the existing regeneration efforts in the area.”

Alan Macdonald, chairman of the Dawn Group