Shopping arcade set to be sold and demolished to make way for new homes

A shopping arcade in Pollokshaws is set to be sold to Glasgow Housing Association for an initial fee of £210,000.

Buildings on the Shawbridge Arcade site would be demolished to make way for 70 new homes.

The deal will go before city councillors next week, who will be asked to agree to the sale being progressed.

Only one business, a William Hill, remains in the shopping centre and a notice to quit has been served to the tenant. A month-to-month lease is currently in place.

The gross cost for the housing association is £1.05m, with a first instalment of £210,000 which is payable on the date of entry, no later than March 31, 2022.

The deal will go before city councillors next week. LDRS

A second instalment is still to be calculated but will be the gross price minus the first payment and any abnormal costs, such as those related to circumstances outside the developer’s control.

An itemised breakdown of abnormal costs must be submitted to the council no later than 12 months after the date of entry if the deal goes ahead. If the costs exceed the outstanding £840,000 then “no sum will be payable”.

Council bosses agreed in April 2020 to dispose of 10 sites, including Shawbridge Arcade, to registered social landlords.

Once the development is complete, Glasgow Housing Association, which is part of the Wheatley Group, would make the flats available for “mid-market rent”.

A statue erected within the area has been excluded from the sale “in recognition of the community interest in this part of the site”.

“We are seeking approval for it to be returned once again to operational status,” a council report added.

The housing association is “keen to press on” with the demolition of the buildings and has “requested consent in advance of the sale for a licence to undertake demolition works”.

“Whilst it would not be normal practice to provide a licence for works of this nature prior to the conclusion of a disposal, the licence will enable the purchaser to press on with their plans for redevelopment of the site and allow them to adhere to their strict development timescales for redevelopment of the site.

“Accordingly, the consent of the committee is requested to allow the demolition works to proceed in advance of the sale by way of a licence from Glasgow City Council, with full specification and timescales being stipulated in the licence agreement.”