Glasgow City Council has appointed CBRE to develop the business case for a potential growth fund for central Glasgow, exploring how public and private sector investment could work together to address the viability challenges stalling development.<\/p>\n
The work forms part of the council\u2019s wider approach to supporting development and attracting investment, including its ambition to increase the city centre\u2019s residential population to 40,000 by 2035.<\/p>\n
CBRE, with input from strategy consultancy Mandala Partners, will draw on work developers, investors and public sector organisations in the city, and its experience advising on such impact funds throughout the UK, to examine how a fund could be structured and financed.<\/p>\n
The initial focus will be on central Glasgow, with scope for any future fund to be scaled up to the wider region.<\/p>\n
The business case is being prepared in line with HM Treasury\u2019s Green Book guidance and is expected to be completed by the end of 2026. Delivery of the business case is being overseen by a council steering group comprising elected members and senior officers. Any decision on whether to create one, and how it would be structured, will be taken by the council following consideration of the business case.<\/p>\n
Ruairi Kelly, depute leader and convener for housing and development at Glasgow City Council, said: \u201cWe are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to unblock some of the issues facing potential development in Glasgow city centre and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cDevelopers are often faced with financial viability gaps when developing new buildings and repurposing heritage properties in the city centre, and the business case to be developed by CBRE will allow us to approach the Scottish and UK Governments to advocate for support and the creation of an impact fund for the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis model has been shown to be successful elsewhere – similar funds have brought in well over \u00a32bn of private and public funding, and there is no reason we should not aim for this and more.\u201d<\/p>\n
David Smith, executive director at CBRE, said: \u201cGlasgow has the ambition and development opportunities to deliver substantial change across the city, but viability gaps continue to prevent that potential from being realised.<\/p>\n
\u201cA well-designed impact fund could be a catalyst for delivery, helping projects move forward and attracting the private investment needed to deliver new homes and meaningful regeneration.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur experience advising on impact vehicles elsewhere, most notably in Greater Manchester, has shown how targeted public investment can stimulate development and attract private capital.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The plan is to explore how public and private sector investment could combine to address the viability challenges stalling development<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":278857,"featured_media":8070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136545,9],"coauthors":[137126],"class_list":["post-8069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-government","category-property","tag-featured-story","tag-greater-glasgow"],"yoast_head":"\n