Plans to demolish Buchanan Galleries have been axed amid a major redevelopment 'rethink'.
Owners of the city centre shopping mall had previously revealed plans to demolish the centre and replace it with a residential development and create new streets.
The proposal was to demolish the centre and build the new development in phases over a number of years.
A proposal to demolish the Galleries was unveiled in response to the disruption facing retail accelerated by the pandemic.
Now the owners, Landsec have revealed there has been a rethink and that the retail sector has recovered since the pandemic leading to a new masterplan to be produced shortly.
READ MORE: Buchanan Galleries could be 'demolished' to make way for urban neighbourhood
The owners confirmed the plans will “retain” the current building as the “anchor” for a new district.
Rather than predominantly a residential development retaining some retail the plan is now being talked about as “rejuvenating a prime retail destination”.
It means that there will be a greater phased approach and shops will have a more prominent role than in the previous plan.
Nick Davis, Landsec Head of Retail Development said: “Given the way cities have changed, and retail’s strong post pandemic recovery, we’re exploring a masterplan that can be delivered in incremental phases and are re-focusing the first phase of our vision in rejuvenating Glasgow’s prime retail destination.
“In conversations with brands, and through engagement with the public, we know that there is both consumer and commercial appetite for this to be delivered and delivered quickly. With this in mind, we will shortly be bringing forward the first phase of a renewed vision for the transformation of Buchanan Galleries.”
The plan is still to create a new neighbourhood but rather than complete demolition it will continue to feature the famous shopping centre.
Mr Davis added: “We recognise the need for investment at the top end of Buchanan Street and the advantage of retaining and investing in the existing building means we can deliver more quickly for Glasgow’s community, whilst being less disruptive and less carbon intensive than our previous proposal.”
“We believe that over time we can create a new city centre district, anchored by the Galleries that responds to the way people want to live, shop and work. To facilitate this multi-phase masterplan approach, we have recently purchased 229-249 Buchanan Street adjacent to the Galleries – reaffirming our commitment to the city.”
An extract from the Landsec annual report earlier this year stated: “At Lewisham, south-east London, and Glasgow we are evolving our plans to focus more on masterplans that can be delivered in discrete incremental phases.
“Alongside this we will seek to embrace opportunities to retain and reinvent existing buildings in our ambition to reduce embodied carbon.
“This new approach will improve overall returns by retaining more of the existing income and growing this, alongside discrete development interventions.
“We are still finalising our plans, but this will likely result in less embodied carbon, lower risk and less capital intensive routes to realising the potential of these mixed-use estates.”
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