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Thursday, April 06, 2024

Xscape Braehead Glasgow Celebrates Opening

Xscape has opened in Braehead, Glasgow, following an 18-month construction programme, the £70m brownfield regeneration project is home to Scotland's first indoor real snow slope and will be Scotland's biggest leisure destination, with an anticipated 4 million visitors in its first year.

Xscape Braehead, a joint venture between Capital & Regional Plc and Capital Shopping Centres, is a 380,000 sq ft sports, shopping and entertainment destination. It is anchored by a 200-metre real snow slope as well as a 12 screen multiplex cinema and 22 lanes of bowling.

Xscape also offers 35,000 sq ft of urban, lifestyle and sports shops let at headline rents of £40 psf and 73,000 sq ft of restaurants and bars let at headline rents of £25 psf, in addition to the 270,000 sq ft of leisure on offer. The current rental income from Xscape Braehead is over £4 million per annum, which places Braehead ahead of both the Milton Keynes and Castleford when those projects were at the same stage.

Over 90% of the available space at Xscape Braehead is now let to major operators such as Odeon Cinemas, Bowlplex plc, Ellis Brigham, Pizza Hut, TGI Fridays, Frankie & Benny's, Chiquito, Nando's, Ma Potters and Pizza Express together with retailers, such as Roxy, Billabong, Evans Cycles, Trespass, Blue Salamander and Adrenalin Junkie.

Total investment into the Xscape Braehead's project following tenants' fit out is estimated in excess of £100m, and it is expected that this investment will generate around 1,000 new jobs in the area.

Xscape CEO, PY Gerbeau says: "Xscape Braehead Glasgow is the third generation Xscape - our experience at Milton Keynes and Castleford has shown us what really works for our operators and customers and we are confident that this Xscape is the best yet. It is about providing a first class experience for our customers that brings them back again and again and so we provide the best platform for our business partners to be successful.

This formula has been a huge success so far - 6 million people visited Xscape Milton Keynes in 2005 - and the fact that Xscape Braehead Glasgow is already 90% let is a good indication that operators share our high hopes for our newest destination. We have plans for a further 2 or 3 Xscapes in the country and we are evaluating sites in the South East and South West of the country where we are currently unrepresented."

Xscape Braehead is part of the largest privately funded waterside regeneration project in the country, Renfrew Riverside, which has been called one of the most important strategic locations in Scotland. Braehead is already an established and successful retail and leisure destination and Xscape Braehead is part of Phase 2 of Braehead's development - there is an additional 185 acres earmarked for future development.

Phase 1 opened 5 years ago with the Braehead Shopping Centre and Retail Park, which now attracts around 20 million visitors a year. It offers 1.06 million sq ft of retail and leisure with 117 shops and stores and with a 300,000 sq ft IKEA situated on an adjacent site. As well as Xscape, Phase 2 involves further substantial regeneration activity including some 1,350 new homes, a riverside park and walkway and 750,000 sq ft of offices.