Savills wins Glasgow University development deal

Real estate firm Savills said it has been appointed by the University of Glasgow as its strategic investment and development advisor on a new five year contract.

The university announced in April it had taken possession of the city’s former Western Infirmary site in a milestone that would enable a £1 billion investment in the university’s Gilmorehill campus.

The Gilmorehill project, one of the biggest education developments in Scotland, is expected to create up to 2,500 jobs during the construction period.

That period will see the transformation of the existing 70 acre university campus in the west end of Glasgow into a world class teaching and learning hub.

The first phase of the regeneration project will focus on the 14 acre site of the former Western Infirmary.

Savills said planning has been submitted for 699,689 sq ft of academic and teaching accommodation, a 183,000 sq ft research building, 193,800 sq ft of offices, 75,350 sq ft of retail and leisure space, a 134,600 sq ft hotel and 156,100 sq ft of residential “to ultimately deliver a new urban quarter for Glasgow.”

Bruce Patrick, investment director at Savills Glasgow, said: “This is by far one of the most exciting and ambitious regeneration projects ever seen in Scotland that will transform the west end of Glasgow and secure the ongoing world class performance of the university.”

Ann Allen, director of estates and buildings at the University of Glasgow, said: “The development of the university’s Gilmorehill Campus is a major investment, not just for the benefit of the university but also for the wider community.

“We are delighted to continue to move the project forward with this appointment.”