Louise Norris, Partner in our Commercial Property team in Glasgow shares her predictions that city planners should be prepared for applications to unlock new developments.
As part of the post-pandemic transformation, Louise believes that Glasgow will have more restaurants but smaller shops and that council planning officials should brace themselves for a raft of applications to adapt city centre buildings. Her prediction comes amid increasing debate on the future of the high street in the wake of Covid-19 and as non-essential stores reopen on April 26.
Louise said: “People are looking forward to being able to go back to the shops, but I think that city centre shopping is going to become more bespoke as things settle in the aftermath of coronavirus. Shopping is going to be more of a social experience.
“Changing habits accelerated by Covid-19 mean that bigger shops are going to have difficulties. We can see that already. So, if shops aren’t going to be as big, other uses for that space needs to be found. But those challenges also create opportunity. Former shop space can be converted to become cafes, restaurants, offices - or even homes.
“That’s not to say that doing this will be easy - and permission for change of use may need to be secured - but I am sure that we will now see a gradual evolution of the high street and that applications for this will be making their way to council planners, who will be bracing themselves.”
Research last month from the Scottish Retail Consortium and KPMG indicated suppressed demand in the country’s retail sector, amid challenging conditions, but highlighted hope that better weather and the vaccine rollout could see the industry play a pivotal part in the fightback from the pandemic.
Louise, who has secured six promotions in seven years to recently become one of our Commercial Property Partners, is upbeat about Glasgow’s wide commercial property sector - from retail to office, warehousing and industrial - with big-ticket developments continuing even under the shadow of the pandemic.
She added: “What’s becoming clear - and is important for the city centre as a whole - is that predictions over the death of the office have been premature. The office world will evolve though, and I again expect there to be many plans to adapt offices to become more flexible to meet those needs.
“The need to create a lower carbon footprint plays into that too. New developments already underway in the city boast impressive environmental standards, which the world will get a glimpse of with the COP26 summit later this year.”
This original article was adapted to feature in the Glasgow Evening Times on Monday 26 April 2021.