Glasgow's iconic 'People Make Glasgow'-emblazoned Met Tower has been purchased for £16.2 million.
The 14-storey office building in the heart of the city centre - which has been vacant since 2014 - has been bought by Manchester-based office space rental agency Bruntwood SciTech.
The purchase will open the door for a £30m transformation of the Grade B-listed old City of Glasgow College building, which is set to become a new hub for tech and digital businesses.
The plans will see it transformed into a hub where university spinouts, startups, scaleups, and large leading tech businesses can co-locate together and benefit from being in an innovative, collaborative tech cluster.
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It is also intended that Met Tower be net zero in operation following a transformation project that will retain as much of its existing fabric as possible, significantly reducing the embedded carbon impact of the re-development.
Bruntwood SciTech will also be creating a shared breakout space on the ground floor, showers, lockers, secure cycle store and sports kit drying room, as well as a rooftop lounge to be used by its future community. It will also offer a cafe.
Work is expected to start later this year, subject to planning, and complete in 2024. As the Met Tower project develops, Bruntwood SciTech will be looking to recruit a locally based team in Glasgow.
Kate Lawlor, chief executive of Bruntwood SciTech, said: “Glasgow has one of Europe’s most exciting, diverse tech and digital clusters with exceptional higher education institutions and clinical assets. Met Tower is in a brilliant location for these types of businesses and is perfectly placed to help create a hub in which they can scale, co-innovate and thrive.
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“Glasgow’s science and tech sector is rapidly growing, having seen some of the highest growth in the whole of the UK in the past two years, and now makes up 28% of all jobs in the city. As a result it has retained its position in the top three leading tech cities in the UK outside of London.
"Our investment in Glasgow is for the long term, and as we’ve demonstrated in our other cities, we are committed to becoming embedded and driving forwards the growth of the knowledge economy and economic impact of the sector both in Glasgow and other parts of Scotland. This is our first in hopefully several brilliant projects in the country.”
Work is expected to start later this year, subject to planning, and complete in 2024.
As the Met Tower project develops, Bruntwood SciTech say they will be looking to recruit a locally based team in Glasgow.
