Drum Property Group Submits Planning Application for Glasgow's Pacific Quay.

£30 Million First Phase Plan to Deliver New Homes, Offices, Restaurant, Cafes and Douglas Laing & Co Distillery.

The completion of one of Scotland’s most high-profile waterfront development sites has moved a step nearer following the submission of a major planning application to Glasgow City Council by Drum Property Group.

Drum is working with Scottish Enterprise to develop a 7.5-acre site at Pacific Drive - which lies at the heart of Glasgow’s fast-growing Pacific Quay and forms a significant part of the final stages of the wider masterplan for the development area.

Drum’s £30 million proposals for this next development phase are for a mixed-use site bringing together high quality homes and offices with restaurants and bars – as well as a new £10 million urban whisky distillery, bottling plant and visitor centre operated by Douglas Laing & Co.

The new development will sit alongside the Canting Basin of the former Prince’s Dock and is set to provide a natural centrepiece for the wider Pacific Quay area. Future phases planned by Drum will see additional business space and amenities being developed, delivering a £67 million project by completion.

Welcoming the new planning application, Graeme Bone, Group Managing Director of Drum said:

"This is a hugely important planning application for Pacific Quay, which has seen unprecedented growth during the last decade and is now rightly regarded as Scotland’s most important location for broadcasting, media and creative industries.

Our proposals combine high quality residential and office development with a café culture, bringing amenities to an area which currently lacks facilities and services and is seldom occupied after 5 pm. We want this to be a vibrant social quarter which will be visited, occupied and enjoyed during the day, evening and night creating a genuine sense of identity and excitement both within and outside of the workplace. We now have the opportunity to realise the ambition of Scottish Enterprise to deliver an attractive and vibrant destination in the very heart of Pacific Quay, bringing a site which has lain empty for more than 30 years back to life.”

Formerly part of the commercial dock operated by Clyde Port Authority, Pacific Quay was used for the Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988 before being transformed into one of Scotland’s most successful new business and leisure destinations. The area is now home to the headquarters of BBC Scotland and STV, and sits adjacent to the SSE Hydro and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.

Drum’s proposals for this development phase will create a high quality living and working environment that is active throughout the day and evening. Plans include 20,000 sq. ft. of Grade A office space, 60 residential homes and apartments as well as café and restaurants units overlooking the Canting Basin.

Proposals also include a new £10 million distillery with a visitor centre and restaurant operated by Douglas Laing & Co which is set to bring added commercial and tourist interest to the area.

Looking forward to the new distillery, Cara Laing, the company’s Director of Whisky said:

“We have long held an ambition for the company to operate its own distillery and bottling operation in Glasgow and our proposals will bring whisky distilling back to the south side of the city.

We will be creating welcome jobs and generating significant additional high-value exports - as well as becoming an additional high profile tourist attraction for the city. We are proud of our Glasgow heritage and are delighted to be part of this project on the banks of the Clyde, right in the very heart of Glasgow.”

Scottish Enterprise acquired the wider Pacific Quay area in 1991 and has been instrumental in bringing together a wide range of investment partners to progress the development. Allan McQuade, Business Infrastructure Director at Scottish Enterprise, added: “This project represents an exciting opportunity to create an outstanding development at a key strategic site for Glasgow, bringing new opportunities for economic growth to the city and more widely across Scotland.

This is one of the key remaining waterfront sites to be developed in Glasgow, and follows hot-on-the-heels of Barclay’s announcement to develop a new state-of-the-art campus at Drum’s Buchanan Wharf site, south of the Clyde. We look forward to working with Drum and other occupiers in the area to realise our ambitious vision for Pacific Quay.”

The Pacific Drive planning application follows the announcement in July of a multi-million pound deal with Barclays Bank to develop a new state-of-the art campus headquarters at Drum’s Buchanan Wharf site - another significant Clydeside development.

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