By Ian McConnell
A £30 million transformation programme for a landmark Glasgow building has been unveiled by its new owner.
The 14-storey Met Tower has been acquired by Bruntwood SciTech from property developer Osborne+Co for £16.2m. The investment programme is aimed at turning the building, which has lain vacant since 2014, into a new hub for “tech and digital businesses”.
The former College of Building and Printing tower was covered with a huge “People Make Glasgow” graphics wrap for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
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Bruntwood SciTech, a joint venture between investor and developer Bruntwood and financial giant Legal & General, plans a hub where university spin-outs, start-ups, scale-ups, and “large leading tech businesses” can “co-locate together and benefit from being in an innovative, collaborative tech cluster”.
Work is expected to start later this year, subject to planning permission, and to be completed in 2024.
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Kate Lawlor, chief executive of Bruntwood SciTech, said: “Glasgow has one of Europe’s most exciting, diverse tech and digital clusters with exceptional higher education institutions and clinical assets. Met Tower is perfectly placed to help create a hub in which these businesses can scale, co-innovate and thrive. Met Tower is a Glasgow landmark in a brilliant location for innovative tech and digital businesses.”
The planned transformation will create 113,000 sq ft of co-working, serviced and leased office space, and a shared break-out area on the ground floor, as well as a rooftop lounge and a cafe.
Businesses based at Met Tower will be able to access Bruntwood SciTech’s UK-wide network of innovation districts, allowing them to collaborate with a 500-strong specialist community of tech and science enterprises.
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