Exclusive
By Scott Wright
HIGH-PROFILE property developer Chris Stewart has declared “real estate values have been maintained pretty remarkably” amid the pandemic as his company reached a milestone in its £100 million Love Loan project in Glasgow.
Edinburgh-based Chris Stewart Group has just presided over the “topping out” of a 245-bedroom AC by Marriott hotel it is building a short walk from George Square in Glasgow city centre.
The hotel is part of the group’s multi-faceted Love Loan regeneration project, which will also involve the construction of a 20-storey residential accommodation block and the revitalisation two listed buildings, formerly home to the Inland Revenue and the Parish Halls.
Love Loan, which spans an area enclosed by George Street, John Street, Martha Street and North Frederick Street, is the latest in a series of prestigious developments to be worked on by Chris Stewart Group since it was established by the entrepreneur 20 years ago.
The redevelopment, which incorporates a gap site on the corner of George Street and John Street that has lain empty for 80 years, will combine the hotel and apartments with a mix of bars, restaurants, gallery and studio spaces. Some will face on to a lane connecting John Street with North Frederick Street.
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Commenting on general trading through the pandemic, Mr Stewart said: “We own hotels and that has been incredibly hard hit, but we have been incredibly resilient. Our buildings have traded very much above average and have out-performed the market, which is good, but at the same time [there is] no doubt it has been tough. But we have continued to build and develop throughout the period, which has been positive.
“Real estate has maintained values pretty remarkably and there is a real weight of capital looking to invest in property. I see it as a hopefully relatively short-term challenge in the life-span of these assets. But within that period, for sure, it has been difficult.”
The Chris Stewart portfolio includes The Registers, which incorporates 50 luxury flats in the former headquarters of Royal Bank of Scotland on Edinburgh’s St Andrew Square, next to 65,000 square feet of Grade A office space that is fully let to Baillie Gifford.
The group has developed and owns hotels such as The Edinburgh Grand and Courtyard by Marriott, also in the city, as well as Advocate’s Close, 7,500 sq ft of contemporary office space spread across three locations in the Scottish capital.
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The group, which employs nearly 200 people, invests its own capital in its developments, and retains the assets on its balance sheet.
Love Loan is the group’s biggest project in Glasgow so far. With topping out recently achieved by construction company Ogilvie Group on the four-star AC by Marriott Hotel, and plans now locked in for the two listed buildings, attention is beginning to shift to the residential block.
“We move on from the hotel to our apartment block pretty shortly,” Mr Stewart said, explaining that sub-structure work will be carried out over the coming months.
“Then [we will] start 20 storeys of new building, which is going to be very exciting for the location.
“Overall, we are feeling pretty confident, and timescale-wise, the first phases will start to open up towards the end of next year. Then the phases beyond that, a year thereafter. Hopefully [it will be] all completed over the next couple of years.”
The apartments, which will occupy the site formerly home to the city’s registry office on Martha Street, are being designed by Hoskins, and are likely to be marketed as a build-to-rent development.
Mr Stewart said: “It is going to be a cracking building [with a] beautiful design by Hoskins, really considered. It will obviously be quite a dominant building in that location.
“We are still in the final stages of getting the detailing right… but it is there or thereabouts.”
He added: “We haven’t absolutely finalised the positioning of it yet, but more than likely it will be a build-to-rent product.”
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