Plans to upgrade and expand the St. Enoch Centre, owned and managed by Canada-based Ivanhoe Cambridge, have been given the go-ahead by Glasgow City Council's planning department.
St. Enoch Centre is located in the heart of Glasgow's busy city-center shopping district - the largest retail market in the United Kingdom outside central London. The Centre features 69,767 m² of retail space and attracts an estimated 20 million visitors per year.
Work can now get underway on the £100 million (approx. €140 million) development programme which will include an extensive refurbishment of the existing mall area and the redevelopment of St. Enoch Square into a much needed and revitalised community facility for the people of Glasgow.
Artist imprssion of the St. Enoch Centre, Glasgow
The plans received the Council's seal of approval on December 19th, 2006. The redevelopment will lead to the creation of 1500 jobs. Work is expected to begin in early Spring on the site of the old Clydesdale Bank building on the corner of Argyle Street and St. Enoch Square and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2009.
Claude Dion, Senior Vice President, Europe, Ivanhoe Cambridge, said: "This large-scale redevelopment project is aligned with Ivanhoe Cambridge's strategy to improve its properties on an ongoing basis, in order to strengthen their respective positioning, customer traffic and market share. St. Enoch Centre has a two-fold advantage: it occupies an exceptional location and already enjoys high traffic.
"These two factors, taken together, have impelled us to move forward with this project and invest in this Centre in order to ensure an optimal shopping experience for consumers and an enhanced business operating environment for retailers", he added.
Susan Nicol, General Manager of St. Enoch Centre, said: "This is excellent news for St. Enoch, its retailers, the community and consumers. When we first unveiled our plans for the Centre in July this year we were delighted with the response we received. We had the overwhelming support of the majority of those who viewed the plans and I'm truly delighted that we've now received planning permission.
"This will be the most significant development in Glasgow's retail sector for a number of years and it will transform St. Enoch Centre into one of the largest city shopping and leisure centers in the UK.
"Our overriding objective is to make the city center stronger and I believe that this project will not only provide shoppers with more choice but it will assist with the regeneration of the entire Argyle Street area and The St. Enoch Quarter and provide a valuable link to the excellent work which is already being done to revitalise Glasgow's waterfront."
Keeping in line with the Centre's famous glass roof, an architectural glass façade will form the centrepiece of the new entrance.
Other highlights of the redevelopment plans, which will give the Centre a total area of more than 1.3 million ft², include:
- new leisure facilities at the east end of the center including a cinema, nightclub and bar/restaurants
- major upgrading of St. Enoch's Square and development of the area as an events space including a large multimedia screen for screening of sports, music and other events at the south end of the square
- an innovative lighting programme to further improve the Centre's visual appeal as well as promoting a safer environment.
Lesley Sawers, Chief Executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, added: "We're extremely excited by the plans to rejuvenate St. Enoch Centre and Glasgow Chamber of Commerce has been a strong supporter of the project. Further enhancing the city centre's retail offering can only have a positive effect on Glasgow's economy and the new Centre will play a huge role in attracting more visitors to our city. It will also help Glasgow to retain its position as one of the top retail destinations in the UK."
Source: Big Partnership
