Aberdeen City and Shire’s economy is anticipating a massive injection of cash, only days after the region celebrated the Scottish Government’s decision to give US tycoon, Donald Trump, the go-ahead to build his £1 billion golf development at Menie in Aberdeenshire.
Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future (ACSEF) the private public partnership that drives economic development in the region has today revealed that a further £600 million of investment is already planned in retail, leisure and commercial developments with over £1.4 billion in potential developments for Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire.
In addition to Trump International Golf Links Scotland, plans are moving forward for a £115 million golf resort, with a hotel and conference centre and a championship course designed by former open champion Paul Lawrie, at Blairs, while a £40 million development at Ury Estates will be the home of a Jack Nicklaus signature golf course and luxury hotel.
A number of landmark buildings are also in the pipeline. The University of Aberdeen recently unveiled plans for its new £57 million library, whose futuristic design will provide the city with a new iconic building. Peacock Visual Arts is planning a £13 million contemporary arts centre, expected to attract around 200,000 visitors a year, bring around £5 million annually into the local economy and provide a centre of excellence for some of the world's finest contemporary artists to work and exhibit in Scotland.
The University of Aberdeen has also committed to constructing a major sports facility, providing the region with a hub capable of hosting international sporting events, attracting promising athletes to the University, nurturing local talent and giving the local community access to sporting opportunities. Phase one of this development will provide a £28million new sports centre by Autumn 2009.
The proposed new £55 million HQ site for The Wood Group (250,000 sq ft) will form a new city business district, which will help redress the shortage of commercial properties.
The pressure on office space has meant that most of the units in the first phase of a £10 million scheme by Kingseat Business Development
Company are already taken. This will become Aberdeen City and Shire’s latest business park, 11 miles out of Aberdeen city centre, with Stewart Milne’s 125,000 sq ft Union Plaza satisfying some of the city-centre shortage.
Recently dubbed the “city the credit crunch forgot” by the national media, Aberdeen has other city centre developments planned. They include the construction of the £250 million Union Square development, which will open next autumn creating a new retail and leisure quarter for Aberdeen, featuring a 203-bedroom Jury’s Inn hotel and the £2 million facelift of the St Nicholas Centre, due to be ready in Spring 2009.
Scotland’s First Minister recently marked the start of construction of one of the largest city centre developments in Scotland, the £75 million iQ development, a commercial hub incorporating a 164-room Park Inn Hotel and high quality office space.
Another 100- bedroom Ibis Hotel is planned for Aberdeen as the centrepiece of the £30 million City Wharf leisure and entertainment centre near Union Street, due to open in October 2009.
In Aberdeen’s West End, £7 million is being spent refurbishing the former Queens Hotel into a Malmaison, which opens at the end of this year. To the north of the city a new Holiday Inn Express recently opened at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre with a 222-bed Radisson hotel also planned for the area.
ACSEF development manager, Rita Stephen, said : ”These new developments represent investment totalling over £600 million. When coupled with Trump International Golf Links Scotland and other proposals such as Banchory & Leggart Estates and Energetica – the proposed 30 mile energy lifestyle corridor, the total could be approaching £3 billion.
“This signals a new era for the region that will secure our long-term vision for economic growth, diversifying the economy and enhancing our quality of life.
“Aberdeen City and Shire must now be one of the most interesting and dynamic city regions in the UK with exciting prospects for residents, visitors and those wishing to relocate here.”
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