by Gordon Thomson, Evening Times
The first glimpse of a new £200 million urban village
which will help transform Glasgow's waterfront have been
unveiled.
The giant glass office complex will dwarf the busy Kingston
Bridge while behind it an L-shaped tower block will house more than
400 luxury apartments over 22 floors.
City
Wharf, which will eventually consist of four separate blocks -
two office and two residential - is being billed as an iconic
landmark which will become the gateway to the city's International
Financial Services District.
Planners say the development, the first commercial Scottish
venture for Manchester-based property developer Dandara, will
provide an ideal link between the SECC and the heart of
Glasgow.
City Wharf will feature two giant office blocks offering a
combined floor space of 240,000ft2. The first - aptly
called One CW - is featured in the artist's impression.
Construction work is due to start in a few weeks and the block
will be ready for occupation by autumn next year.
It will feature hot showers on all nine floors to encourage
workers to cycle to work.
Dandara's development director Alan Kinloch said: "Glasgow has
yet to see a commercial development that can compare or compete on
location and quality of specification.
"Dandara is pushing boundaries and expectations within the
commercial property sector with One CW and will incorporate a
number of distinguishable features which will be a first for
Glasgow.
"Completion of One CW is expected to be in October 2009, which
will ultimately see the launch of the most prestigious business
address in the city."
The first tower block of flats will be built close by. It will
offer a mixture of 426 studios, one and two-bedroom apartments and
should be completed in two years' time.
The developer has not given details of when work will begin or
finish on the second tower block, or the second office complex
which will be bigger than One CW.
But the development will eventually consist of 856 apartments
and include 7000sq ft of retail space for small units such as cafes
and newsagents.
City Wharf will also have Glasgow's biggest underground car
park, with 740 spaces as well as showers for cyclists.
And Glasgow's newest urban village could also have its own
upmarket hotel.
Dandara is known to be considering using spare land for a hotel
even though one is planned by a rival at a neighbouring site.
The development marks a new era for a site which saw one of the
city's worst tragedies.
The Cheapside Street disaster claimed the lives of 14 fire
fighters and five members of the Glasgow Salvage Corps after a
blaze in a whisky warehouse in 1960.
Reproduced with the permission of The Evening Times(Glasgow) ©
Newsquest (Herald & Times) Ltd.