Art college is latest tenant for Skypark

THE Skypark office scheme near the River Clyde in Glasgow has secured its first major new tenant since coming under fresh ownership last November.

Glasgow School of Art (GSA) has signed a three-year lease to take up 72,500 sq ft, including teaching, studio and office space.

GSA will pay 656,000 in annual rent while its Garnethill Campus in the city centre is under redevelopment.

Skypark, owned by the Moorfield real estate investment group, will from June be home to staff from GSA's fashion and textile design, product design, product design engineering, architecture and visual communications departments. Students will arrive in September. Moorfield and joint venture partner Resonance Capital paid 54 million to purchase Skypark from Kenmore Property Group and Paradigm Real Estate Managers, who in turn bought the 560,000 sq ft complex from Allied London for 90m in 2005.

The sale to Moorfield followed the collapse of HBOS-backed Kenmore in 2009. Lloyds, which took over HBOS during the height of the banking crisis, reportedly placed an initial price tag of 70m on Skypark.

The complex, which includes six buildings, will be roughly 90 per cent let after GSA moves in. Other tenants include O2, Four Seasons Nursery, Ticketmaster, RMJM Architects, Lloyd's Register, Dermalogica and Travel2.