Council approval allows early completion of Buchanan Galleries' southern extension

Council's Executive Committee today (15 June) approved a series of actions which will allow the completion of the southern extension of Buchanan Galleries to take place earlier than otherwise would have been the case.

This approval by the council means that work on the extension should begin in 2018, with completion in 2019.

Work on the extension had been suspended in July 2015 due to issues around how to work around the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) scheme at Queen Street Station.

After it became apparent that both work programmes could not be delivered in tandem, Land Securities Buchanan Limited (LSBL) undertook a full review of the options for the extension of the Galleries. In late 2016, Scottish Ministers instructed Transport Scotland to further review the potential of both EGIP and a reconfigured Buchanan Galleries extension scheme to be delivered.

As a result of these reviews, a number of option are being considered by LSBL, Transport Scotland and Network Rail, with the process supported by Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Futures Trust.

The actions approved by today's Executive Committee include varying the lease terms for LSBL from 100 years to 175 years.

Councillor Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council and City Convener for Inclusive Economic Growth, said: "The council's approval of these actions allows for the southern extension of the Buchanan Galleries to go forward while work on the EGIP scheme at Queen Street Station continues.  In taking this decision, we are looking forward to significant economic benefits and opportunities for the whole city, as we work to make Glasgow city centre an even more attractive location for visitors and investors.  We will work with the developer to ensure that everyone can enjoy new and existing fantastic features of the Galleries, including the steps, one of the city's most popular public spaces."

The wider extension of the Buchanan Galleries is being delivered through a TIF (Tax Increment Finance) scheme - the Buchanan Quarter TIF.

The Buchanan Quarter TIF scheme in full aims to:

• lever in £310 million of private sector investment;
• deliver around 1500 jobs to the city;
• bring £36million of extra economic activity to Glasgow annually;
• deliver a 392,000 sq ft expansion of the Buchanan Galleries;
• enable up to £80million of public infrastructure works and public realm improvements;
• create a new 1500-space car park at Queen Street Station with 35,000 sq ft of associated retail units; and
• provide 50,000 sq ft of new retail development at southern end of the existing Buchanan Galleries site.