Stamp of approval given to redevelopment of Glasgow GPO building

Glasgow City Council planning committee approves plans for £70 million office development at Number One George Square

AWG Property and HF Developments will deliver a first class new office development on the site of the former Glasgow GPO building after their ambitious proposals were given the go-ahead by city planners. Glasgow City Council today approved AWG Property / HF Developments’ plans to create 127,000 sq ft of state-of-the-art office space at Number One George Square.

The joint venture will now start work redeveloping the A-listed Victorian building, bought from Stefan King’s G1 Group in excess of £11 million in November of last year. Once completed, the development could lure as many as 1200 new jobs to the city centre.

The development promises to provide first class quality office accommodation. New public realm space will also be available on the ground floor to engage passers by and allow the people of Glasgow and visitors to the city to benefit from the new site. The façade of the 127-year-old building will be retained while a striking glass roof extension will be created.

Stephen Kelly, director of AWG Property said: “We’re delighted our proposals to create an iconic development for the centre of Glasgow have been given the green light by the planning committee.

“Number One George Square will occupy one of the most prominent sites, not only in Glasgow, but in Scotland as a whole.

“Potential occupiers have already started enquiring about locating to the site and many agents are predicting Glasgow could suffer from a lack of Grade A office space in future years, which could prevent potential investment in the city.

“It is vital we get this development right and we are confident that the location, design and configuration of this development make it ideal for a single occupier keen to make this its corporate or Scottish HQ.

“We are in active discussions with a number of interested parties.”

The proposed refurbishment and extension of the former post office building will help to reactivate the southern corner of the Square. The development is expected to have an end development value in excess of £70 million.

William Hill, managing director of HF Developments, said: “Now that planning consent has been granted, we can really start work in earnest.

“It has been pleasing to see so much interest in this site already, as I think everyone in Glasgow has a desire to see this particular property brought back into use again following so many years of lying vacant.

“We aim to keep the frontage of the building intact but will create a modern, desirable and employee-friendly facility behind it, which will rival any office development in Scotland.

“We look forward to starting work on site within days.”

The demolition and façade retention contractor Coleman has been appointed and will complete around Christmas. Following this the main contractor will start construction of the new building inside the retained façade.

Issued by the BIG partnership on behalf of HF Developments Limited