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August 2014
Developers flesh out £100m Merchant City plan

Developers flesh out £100m Merchant City plan

August 22 2014

Mace and Mercer Real Estate have outlined their thinking behind a £100m development in Glasgow’s Merchant City, vowing to deliver a mix of uses and public realm enhancements to the prominent plot.

Plans are in train to deliver up to 500 homes, a 120 bed hotel, ground floor retail and accommodation for 450 students on a block bounded by Hutcheson Street, Trongate, Candleriggs and Wilson Street.

This collection of buildings would be diagonally bisected by a pedestrian route driven through the heart of the site, connecting the Trongate to Merchant Square with a public space at its heart fronted by bars and restaurants.

Mace development director Mike Myles told the Evening Times: “The value of a development is not just about how many buildings you can get onto a site but also the public spaces which make it more attractive. As a result, we are also trying to create a new diagonal pedestrian route into a new public square which will continue on to Merchant Square which is really successful.

“There will be a mix of uses with the student accommodation to the west of the site. To the east we have a hotel, private residential for sale, and private rented residential which will be high quality with a concierge and perhaps a gym, residents' lounges and private garden so there will be a real sense of community.”

A planning application is expected to be lodged by December with work beginning by summer 2016 for completion by 2020. Before then a public consultation will be held in City Halls, Candleriggs, between 14:00 and 20:00 at which indicative plans drawn up by Richard Murphy Architects will be shown for the first time.

6 Comments

#1 Posted by Edward Harkins on 22 Aug 2014 at 14:34 PM

Good to see a return to residential development in the Merchant City. IMO after the hugely successful first decade of regeneration, sustainability for the Merchant City's next stage of success will need residential input of this kind.

#2 Posted by Chris on 22 Aug 2014 at 22:52 PM

The recent success of Buchanan Quarter shows that there's definitely an appetite for city centre apartments. Getting more people living in the centre of town is crucial for the ongoing regeneration of the city.

#3 Posted by Stephen on 23 Aug 2014 at 15:31 PM

Potentially very exciting! Glad Richard Murphy is on it as well rather than on of the big commercial practices. There's definitely scope for a lot more city centre living in Glasgow.

#4 Posted by brian on 23 Aug 2014 at 17:31 PM

I just hope the build is tastful to the trongate site and doesn't end up like waterfront flats,Just a pity its all aimed at people who will be here temporary ,Biz folks and students etc,Maybe it will help crossrail and hub station in the long run.The area does need the station opened up again.