The optimistic fallout from last year’s Commonwealth Games looks set to continue driving Scotland’s property recovery for the rest of 2015 — with host city Glasgow tipped to put in a winning performance.
Researched and published jointly by commercial agents GVA and the banking group Santander, their Prospectus 2015 identifies Scotland’s economic capital as this year’s recovery leader. Edinburgh and Aberdeen will also offer major development opportunities.
The international attention focused by the Commonwealth Games lead directly to Glasgow becoming the first non-English city to join an initiative for regional economic centres. Signing its “City Deal” last year will now allow the city to fund major infrastructure projects and drive innovation, believes GVA James Barr chairman Eric Forgie.
“As the only Scottish city to join the Core Cities Initiative, Glasgow’s city deal extending to £1.13bn will significantly help major projects, including the much-needed Glasgow Airport Rail Link,” he explained.
“The extension of Buchanan Galleries in the city centre will also boost Glasgow’s appeal as a prominent UK retail centre … And this will focus the prime pitch in and around the shopping centre and will alter the retail profile of pitches such as Sauchiehall Street.”
Forgie claimed that with the increasing number of pre-lets and a strong interest in available space, this year would see significant commercial property projects being unveiled in Glasgow. “We also expect to see further activity in the renewables sector as the city evolves and takes its place as a centre of excellence,” he added.
In Edinburgh, the report is forecasting a rising demand across all markets, with particularly strong pressure within the hotel, office and retail sectors.
On the investment side, Santander’s team of property specialists supported a significant number of important transactions across Scotland during 2014. “Looking at the year ahead, we see further opportunities for growth and are committed to continue supporting the ambitions of our real-estate clients,” promised Nick Peet, the bank’s Scottish head of real estate finance.
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