A SIGNIFICANT milestone has been reached in the £300million regeneration of Candleriggs Square in Glasgow’s Merchant City.
The site has marked its first completed building following the opening of the UK’s first The Social Hub -– a four-star hybrid hospitality location combining hotel, student and extended stay accommodation, co-working space and leisure facilities.
The 3.6-acre Candleriggs Square site — bound by Wilson Street, Hutcheson Street, Candleriggs and Trongate — had been unoccupied and derelict for more than two decades.
The £90million Social Hub Glasgow spans some 20,000 sq. metres and has space for up to 222 co-workers along with 20 private offices and eight flexible meeting and event spaces totalling 1,500sq metres.
There are 494 rooms including dedicated four-star hotel rooms for leisure and business travellers, as well as those for students and extended-stay guests, making it Scotland’s largest hotel by room numbers.
A 346-unit rental apartment scheme delivered on behalf of Legal & General is forecast for practical completion this summer.
Candleriggs Square is a joint venture by Drum Property Group and Stamford Investments.
Graeme Bone, group managing director of Drum Property Group, welcomed the completion of The Social Hub Glasgow, said: “The development vision we outlined when we first took ownership of the site in 2019 is now starting to come to fruition.
“Despite many construction and delivery challenges, we are now seeing this vital part of the city centre, which had lain dormant for more than 20 years, beginning to take shape.
“It’s great to see these spectacular buildings coming out of the ground, bringing people, investment and excitement back into the heart of Glasgow city centre. The opening of The Social Hub Glasgow marks the return of Candleriggs Square to what it once was as part of the city’s rich commercial history – a bustling market-place full of life, vitality and interest, intrinsically linked to the rest of the city centre.”
He added: “We can now look forward to more high-quality housing, local amenities and open spaces combining with new pedestrian and access links creating a new sense of place, and making the whole Merchant City more accessible, welcoming and exciting for people living, working and visiting the area.”
