Commercial property: Royal plot has healthy prospects

It opened on St Valentine’s Day in 1890 and has served people on the south side of Glasgow well for more than a century.

The former Victoria Infirmary in Langside, which closed its doors in the summer, is now being offered to the property market as a development opportunity.

Named after the reigning monarch of the time, and granted permission to display the royal coat of arms above the entrance, it doubled its original 120 beds after the First World War and tripled it by the current century.

However, no amount of renovation could provide the expected modern day standards of care, and with the creation of another royally-endorsed replacement, the new Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Govan, the facility was declared surplus to requirements.

Savills, who are advising NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the Scottish Futures Trust on disposal of the property, say the 9.5 acre landmark site represents a chance to create a high density development in one of Glasgow’s sought after locations.

Though set in a heavily residential area, this is not the only option being explored for the triangular site, which has views over Queens Park and is close to Hampden Park.

Savills director Jamie Doran told The Herald: “We are not marketing it as a residential site, but rather as a development opportunity suitable for a variety of uses.

“We will leave it to the market to determine, and clearly the appropriate planning consent needs to be obtained, but we do wish to keep our options open.

“You may find a hotel chain decides it wants something on the south side of the city, catering for Hampden, the new Victoria Hospital and the Clyde College nearby, or just attracted to a location right in the middle of the south side.

“They might decide to convert one of the buildings or seek a purpose built alternative.

“The site could also take food retail, though there are already metro-style offerings from major supermarket chains Sainsbury and Tesco within Langside.

“It could also work for retirement living, or nursing homes. I do not think it will be all residential, more likely it will be mixed use.

“We are not quoting any price, are open to offers, and have some flexibility in the type of deal we eventually do here. What we are really focusing on is a deliverable scheme which enhances the area.”

Detailed technical information will be provided on a data room website, and a two-stage sale process is expected, with initial bids early next year and a shortlist given the chance
to clarify their proposals before appointment of a preferred bidder.

There are many existing buildings on the site, including one B-listed property, but others are beyond practical use, with the agents consulting Glasgow City Council, Historic Scotland and the local
community council as they explore demolition.

Numerous bids expected for Eurocentral industrial facility

With Scottish industrial property returns in double digits for the past five years, there’s expected to be lots of interest in a prime single let industrial investment at Eurocentral being offered by GVA James Barr.

The 138,231 sq ft modern purpose built storage and distribution facility at 25 Coddington Crescent is let to Scottish Power at a low passing rent of under £5 per sq ft, with a review due in 18 months’ time.

The warehouse space is sub-let to global logistics operator Norbert Dentressangle.

Will Sandwell of the agents, who are advising BMO Real Estate Partners, said he was seeking offers in excess of £8.5m, reflecting a net initial yield of 7.31 per cent.

Earlier this year GVA attracted 14 bids on behalf of a syndicate of private investors when it sold a neighbouring 164,782 sq ft property let to Wincanton for £7.67m (4.53 per cent)

Retail parks prove to be rich pickings for Home Bargains

Expanding discount retail chain Home Bargains is to open a new store in East Lothian after agreeing a 12,500 pre-let on a site at Olive Bank Retail Park in Musselburgh. The deal with Perth-based developer Kilmac will see the Merseyside based operator take a 15 year lease at £13.50 per sq ft.

The facility on Newhailes Road, being developed at a cost of £2.5 million, will replace the former Madisons nightclub and sit alongside existing Aldi and Iceland outlets, with work due to get underway this month and open early in 2016. This is the latest boost to the park, which is less than a mile from one of Scotland’s largest retail developments, Fort Kinnaird and has seen an increase in new tenants since  Kilmac appointed IME to market the scheme earlier this year.

New figures suggest a boom in out-of-town shopping – in August footfall at retail parks jumped eight per cent while a Scottish Retail Consortium study showed a 1.5 per cent drop in High Streets and malls.

Kilmac director Blair Morrison said: “We are seeing a shift in retail demand to the east of Edinburgh and to retail parks in general and the latest addition to an already strong line-up demonstrates a real confidence in the location.”

IME MD Iain Mercer believes Olive Bank provides a viable alternative for retailers looking for affordable space: “Fort Kinnaird is close by and has enjoyed a real upturn in fortunes, but that comes at a cost. What we are offering is a new and exciting opportunity for secondary retailers.”

White knight of opportunity

Award-winning Albus Building is a shining example of a modern office space perfectly in tune with the needs of its tenants.

With bare concrete walls and exposed pipework, the interior of The Albus building in Bridgeton has a striking contemporary feel, ideal for small businesses in sectors such as media, IT and renewables, who want high specification space at an affordable rent.

The exterior of the Brook Street building is equally impressive, with clean lines, extensive glazing flooding the floor plates with light, and distinctive high impact colour.

Latin scholars will no doubt attribute its name to that language’s word for white, though the current generation are more likely to think of the character Dumbledore in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter.

Whatever the truth, this building is the pride of Scotland after casting a spell over the judges of a national competition, picking up the British Council for Offices UK-wide award for projects up to 2000 sq m this month.

It is already providing an exciting work environment for its first tenant, digital creative agency MadeBrave, which moved the one mile (four minutes by train) out from the city centre earlier this year. Anyone in the industry who hasn’t seen their outstanding fit-out should ask for a tour just to see what can be done.

“MadeBrave have seen their business transform since moving in,” says Fiona Kell of regeneration company Clyde Gateway. “The national recognition following the BCO win has led to a surge of interest, highlighting The Albus as a textbook example of an office solution that directly meets the needs of modern business.

“Not only is this facility served by excellent transport links, it also offers great value for money (from around £14 per sq ft), easy access to local amenities, on-site parking, superfast broadband up to 100MB and a striking modern design.”

There’s a wider agenda here of course, and Clyde Gateway continues to go from strength to strength, helping to create a sustainable economic and social legacy in the east end.

Established in 2008 following the announcement that Glasgow was to hold the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the organisation has seen over £1.5 billion invested in the area in the last seven
years from both public and
private sector.

Suburbs to benefit as city centre overheats

With the Glasgow city centre office market overheating just now, prospects in the peripheral and out of town sector are looking bright for the first time in a number of years.

This means that properties such as Westpoint House at Peel Park in East Kilbride could be well placed to take advantage of this uplift.

The 43,500 office building has a remarkable 345 car parking spaces – a ratio of 1:125 sq ft – which gives it a major advantage of rivals around the city.

This is because its original consent, on the back of a pre-let to American company SAIC, allowed for doubling the accommodation in the case of expansion.

As this extension never happened, occupiers such as IBM, Wipro and Project 7, along with more recent signings Vinci and Luma IT, enjoy an unusual bonus.

David Cobban of Savills, joint letting agents with GVA, said the three storey property has a central core with 6460 sq ft satellite wings, one floor of which has been converted into office suites which can cleverly serve as incubation space before a move to larger space in the building.

The naturally ventilated accommodation earns an EPC rating of C, and there are good transport links by road (it is adjacent to the Glasgow Southern Orbital link) and rail (two railway stations are nearby).

There are raised access floors and quality finishes throughout, plus a well used on-site deli bar. The offices are available at a rental of £12.50 per sq ft.

Confidence at the max as new tenants arrive at Eurocentral

A spate of new occupiers is boosting confidence at Maxim Office Park at Eurocentral, which will have its central Scotland location strengths underlined by the decision to move the expanded M8 motorway literally to its doorstep.

What is particularly interesting is the diverse range of tenants signing up in recent weeks, ranging from Arran Aromatics and Allied Glass to Proact IT and the Digital Health Care Institute.

The top brand cosmetics firm has taken a 2077 sq ft suite within Maxim 3 for a central office which will feature a design studio creating new products and display area to showcase product lines to buyers.

The glass packaging company has taken a similar suite, also for five years, in a strategic decision to be closer to customers including The Famous Grouse whisky, Bulldog gin, Phraya rum and Glen’s vodka. Proact is a cloud services enabler and storage integrator helping businesses across the globe with secure IT services.

There is momentum, and Craig Ritchie from Maxim intends to build on it: “We’ve had a steady flow of new tenant deals recently and it is testament to a highly accessible location and exceptionally efficient buildings, which allow companies flexibility to expand operations if need be.” SEPA occupies an entire 60,000 sq ft building, while smaller suites from 1400 sq ft have proved perfect for civil engineering contractor Wills Bros and motoring giant Ford. Biotech company TC Biopharm has installed a clean room and laboratory as a centre of excellence in clinical manufacturing.

Occupiers praise the on-site amenities, including Dakota Hotel, Berits & Brown restaurant, Peppery Horse bistro, nursery, fitness classes, hairdressers and beauticians, and there’s some exciting initiatives underway. More electric car charging points are going in shortly, and there are now 110 buses daily.