THE major retail and leisure complex approved for Glasgow Harbour this week will take around three years to build, operator Lifestyle Outlets say.

Proposals for the £100m  development beside the Clyde near Partick were approved by Glasgow City Council on Tuesday.

Lifestyle Outlets say discussions will now take place with potential retailers and leisure operators and that the project will have a 36-month build programme. No indication is given on when work will start.

The centre, spread over six buildings, will have a mixture retail — around 120 units — food and drink, leisure, a flagship multiplex cinema and public spaces for events, activities and performances.

As part of the proposals, a new footbridge over the River Kelvin will be created linking connecting with the Riverside Museum, improving wider connectivity for the area. Scotway House, a student accommodation building, has already been completed on the site.

|  More images and link to article with more information

Lifestyle Outlets, part of Peel L&P, owns and operates two other  outlet destinations – one at Gloucester Quays and another at MediaCityUK, Manchester.

Both Gloucester and Manchester also deliver a full and varied calendar of events in their public spaces, including live fashion shows, food festivals and markets. It is fully expected that the Glasgow Harbour Outlet will deliver similar events using the site’s generous public spaces.

A computer-generated image showing how development of the whole site might look. Separate planningapplications will be required for residential development on the Clyde riverfront and a hotel, right, beside the Kelvin., behind which is the already completed student accommodation building. The Govan to Partick bridge over the Clyde will land on the Riverside Museum side of the Kelvin, not as shown here.

Jason Pullen, Lifestyle Outlets’ managing director, said: “We are delighted to have secured permission for a development which we believe will be complementary and supportive to Glasgow’s growing international reputation as a major retail, leisure and events destination.

“Retail has evolved beyond recognition in recent years and our aim is to create a new generation of outlet shopping destinations which have leisure and entertainment at their heart.

“We believe we are bringing forward a development which will not only have a significant economic contribution to the city, but greatly support the city’s aspirations to breathe life into the waterfront.”