BUILDING work has started on a new £65million office block in the centre of Glasgow and major corporations are being lured with cheap rents.

Cash saving deals are being offered in an attempt to secure a large UK or foreign blue chip tenant for the 10-storey St Vincent Plaza which will be able to accommodate a workforce of more than 2600 staff.

The developers at Abstract (Glasgow) Ltd say the rent will be among the cheapest in the UK office sector are hoping a major employer will snap up the Grade A glass tower as a flagship HQ and agree a long term lease before building work is completed in the spring of 2015.

The Plaza is in St Vincent Street, near the Santander building, and opposite the new ScottishPower headquarters where building work is due to begin shortly.

Like the energy giant, Santander is Spanish owned and is the reason why Abstract's Development Director Christopher McPherson refers to the area as the "Spanish Quarters."

He says renting the Plaza will be cost effective for any tenant. Workstation costs per employee are around £3800 but will be £1000 less at this new office which will sit on the edge of Glasgow's International Financial Services District.

Rental costs per square foot in the market is around £28.30p but at the Plaza will be £5 cheaper in a new building which will provide 170,000 square feet of office space.

Mr McPherson said: "In this building, we are bringing a very innovative concept to the market which is Grade A space at a huge discount to any other city centre schemes.

"What we are offering is office space that absolutely does not compromise on quality but simply cannot be found at this cost anywhere else - our 'cost per workstation' will not be replicated anywhere else either in Glasgow or many other city centre locations in the UK.

"Today we find businesses are not only focusing on rents but are also looking at the cost per workstation. The rental cost does not tell the full story especially with older and less efficient buildings where density of occupation is poor so companies have to take extra space."

St Vincent Plaze is creating 250 construction jobs though potentially almost 5000 staff will be housed in the building and the new ScottishPower HQ across the road at the corner of St Vincent Street and India Street.The energy giant will be based on a site which was the headquarters of Strathclyde Regional Council. It was axed in the mid-90s as a result of local government re-organisation.

gordon.thomson@eveningtimes.co.uk