£300 million plan to develop Glasgow's Merchant City reaches milestone

Work has been ongoing for the last five years to regenerate Candleriggs Square by building 346 build-to-rent apartments and The Social Hub, a four-star hotel combined with student accommodation, working spaces and leisure facilities. 

Following the completion of the £90 million hotel - claimed to be Scotland's biggest - in April, developers Drum Property Group and Stamford Investments are preparing to complete the apartments.

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The 3.6-acre Candleriggs Square site has lain derelict for almost 20 years, historically hosting the city's fruit and veg market and then a department store until the closure of the last operator in 1999. 

Its regeneration is taking shape with the 346-apartment build-to-rent scheme - delivered on behalf of Legal & General - forecast for practical completion this summer. 

Graeme Bone, Drum's group managing director, 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 marketplace full of life, vitality and interest, intrinsically linked to the rest of the city centre."

READ MORE: City centre development reaches significant milestone

Spanning 20,000 square metres, The Social Hub boasts 494 rooms including four-star rooms for leisure and business travellers, rooms for students and extended-stay guests and 20 private offices. 

The Amsterdam-based firm says it is the first of its kind in Scotland and the 18th in the world to be opened by them, with other locations in Berlin, Vienna, Barcelona and more. 

As well as an impressive number of rooms, the hub will feature one of the city’s largest rooftop bars and a restaurant and bar which serves a range of international and locally-inspired food and drink options.

Graeme 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.”

Glasgow City Council initially approved plans for The Social Hub in May 2020 as part of a desire to bring more people back into the city centre to live, work and visit.

Council leader Susan Aitken previously attended the hotel’s groundbreaking ceremony in September 2021.

She said: “Glasgow needs a city centre that is an attractive place to live, work, study, visit and invest – and the regeneration of Candleriggs Square can play an important role in delivering on all of those aims.

"We can now look forward to further stages of the development bringing economic and social benefit to the Merchant City’s residents and businesses – and contributing to a wider renewal of the city centre.”