Two major hotel groups are pressing ahead with new developments at Pacific Quay in Glasgow.
Premier Inn confirmed it would start building work soon on a 180-bedroom hotel and restaurant opposite the new Hydro arena and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre. And De Vere Group plans to begin work next month on a new urban resort just south of the BBC Scotland HQ. Both are scheduled to open in time for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Premier Inn is investing £11m in its new hotel and restaurant after securing a 2.9 acre site next to BBC Scotland on the south side of the River Clyde.
A spokesman said: “We will be on site soon and plan to open the doors to customers in spring 2014 in readiness for the Commonwealth Games later that summer.”
Hotel group De Vere, whose portfolio includes the Cameron House resort at Loch Lomond, is spending approximately £20m on hotel and leisure facilities at Pacific Quay.
It will include 120 rooms, a bar and restaurant, a health and fitness centre with a 20m pool and a Starbucks outlet.
It is one of three hotels the group is planning to open in Scotland under its Village Urban Resort brand. The others are in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
Chief Executive Robert Cook, said the company are scheduled to be on site at Pacific Quay next month, with a view to finishing well before next year’s Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup.
He said agencies such as Scottish Enterprise, from which it acquired the land, had made it easier for his company to consider investment in Scotland.
“Scotland is very joined up in terms of helping businesses wanting to invest and develop,” Mr Cook added.
Pacific Quay is at the forefront of a major urban regeneration project involving a number of businesses, agencies and organisations.
The Creative Clyde partnership includes Scottish Enterprise, Glasgow City Council, the University of Glasgow, BBC Scotland, Creative Scotland, STV and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.
Its aim is to create a successful and vibrant riverside community for media, technology and creatively-minded businesses in an area which was once a neglected stretch of dockland.
Director of creative industries at Scottish Enterprise, Linda McPherson, said: “For any business to flourish, it is essential that they operate in a well-equipped, functional environment and, as part of this, the provision of supportive infrastructure is vital.
“That is why the arrival of the two new hotel developments is such a welcome boost at this early stage of developing Creative Clyde as they bring another element to the infrastructure mix.”
