It's the big 'Z'

Preliminary groundwork will begin early in the New Year, with

construction on the #150-#200m centre starting in the summer and

completion due in the summer of 1998.

It has taken a long time coming, but John Hamilton of property

consultants Healey & Baker promises it will prove worth waiting for.

The scheme was first mooted more than 10 years ago and has been on and

off in the intervening years. According to Mr Hamilton, however, ''as

far as we are concerned it is definitely happening.''

Councillor Pat Lally, Leader of Glasgow City Council, reiterates this

upbeat message. ''We have had meetings with the developers and they have

told us of their intent to go ahead,'' he says.

At 600,000 sq ft the centre will be the biggest ever built in

Scotland. An idea of its size can be gauged from the fact that The Forge

in Glasgow's Parkhead is 450,000 sq ft and the Bon Accord centre in

Aberdeen, combined with the adjoining John Lewis Partnership, comes to

475,000 sq ft.

Some property consultants have privately voiced doubts about the size

of the scheme, saying it could have an adverse impact on the St Enoch

Centre.

But John Hamilton does not agree. There are at present, he says, more

inquiries from retailers looking for prime space in Glasgow than even

the Buchanan Street centre will provide space for.

On the question of whether there are enough shoppers to satisfy the

business needs of a Buchanan Street centre on top of the existing retail

provision, Hamilton, who is Healey & Baker's Glasgow Retail Partner,

says there are 2,000,000 consumers in the Glasgow catchment area and

that they have money to spend.

''Historically Glasgow has not had as large a prime shopping area as

its competitors,'' he says. ''There will be some relocation but the

Buchanan Street Centre will provide a link between Sauchiehall Street

and Argyle Street, forming a 'Z' of prime shopping in the city.

''If you examine the requirement sheets of retailers wishing to come

to Glasgow you will see there are more than enough to fill this

scheme.''

It is thought, however, that the west end of Sauchiehall Street might

suffer, with prime shopping moving more towards Buchanan Street, while

in Argyle Street the Glasgow Cross shopping area might be even more

marginalised with C & A being talked about as a possible tenant for one

of the large units in the new centre.

The John Lewis Partnership is committed to taking 300,000 sq ft of the

new development to create one of the biggest stores in Scotland. The

chain already has stores in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

There will be three other large retail units of 40,000 sq ft in the

complex. Healey & Baker and Montagu Evans, who are joint letting agents,

will be talking to prospective tenants for these units early in the New

Year.

The remainder of the shopping centre will be taken up by between 65

and 70 shop units.

A major attraction of the new centre will be its accessibility.

Positioned at the top of Buchanan Street at the end of Sauchiehall

Street, it will reach down Buchanan Street to the Underground station.

In addition it is less than three minutes from the M8, and adjacent to

both the bus station and Queen Street railway station.

Attached to the development will be Glasgow's biggest covered car

park, with spaces for 1500 vehicles.

The scheme has been plagued by a number of ownership changes and

recently was delayed while Slough Estates absorbed Bredero, its

subsidiary responsible for the development, completely into the company.

This internal reorganisation has now been completed and Slough Estates

and Grosvenor Square Property Group plc, which is its partner in the

development, are committed to starting work on the site next year.

Grosevenor Square Property Group is part of Associated British Ports.

Earlier this year it announced details of its ambitious plans for the

development, at the British retail shopping conference held in Glasgow.

The news that work is to start on the Buchanan Street development is

welcomed by Mike Ryder, chief executive of Lambert Smith Hampton in

Scotland. ''This is great news,'' he says. ''Something had to happen, as

you could not expect an anchor store such as the John Lewis Partnership

to hang around for ever.''

The new centre is an integral part of the long-term plans by Glasgow

City Council to transform Buchanan Street into a boulevard to equal some

of the most famous in Europe.

''The Glasgow Development Agency has a proposal to improve Buchanan

Street, right through St Enoch Square to the Clyde,'' says Councillor

Lally. ''We support this proposal, which will be carried out in an

incremental fashion, with the Gallery of Modern Art, due to be opened in

Exchange Square in 1996, being part of the overall plan.''

The council leader believes the shopping centre development will go

ahead following meetings between Glasgow City Council, Slough Estates,

and the John Lewis Partnership.

Situated adjacent to the Royal Concert Hall, it will enhance the vista

at the top of Buchanan Street looking down to Argyle Street.

By the time it is completed in 1998 it will be eight years since the

Royal Concert Hall opened. The original concept had been to build the

two in tandem, but the City Fathers reckon that it is better late than

never.