Building Briefs – February 15th

DM Hall’s West commercial property operation appoints new director

Chartered surveyors DM Hall has appointed Jonathan McManus as a new director of commercial agency, based in the firm’s Glasgow North office.

He will be part of DM Hall’s West commercial department.

A graduate of Paisley University, Jonathan qualified as a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in 2000. Subsequently, he worked in senior roles with a number of leading professional firms of including GVA and Colliers, before setting up on his own as McManus Property Consultants in 2009.

Keltbray appoints new group financial director

Keltbray Group has announced the appointment of Peter Burnside as new group financial director.

Peter has been appointed to strengthen the senior management team and joins Keltbray from global accountancy and business advisory firm, BDO, where he was managing partner for BDO Northern Ireland.

Peter is based at Keltbray’s head office in Esher and is taking over the role previously held by John Keehan, who has been Keltbray’s financial director since 2005. This will leave John free to focus solely on his role at deputy chief executive officer.

Peter is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland, and a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

New £4.4m primary school to be built in South Lanarkshire

South Lanarkshire Council has approved plans for the new Walston Primary to be developed on a new site in the village of Elsrickle.

The new £4.4 million school will replace the current traditional school house with features including a 1000 sq. metre single storey timber frame building, two classrooms, a nursery class, gym hall, library and kitchen/dining facilities as well as a MUGA pitch.

Access will be created to a 16-space car park from the A721, where a pedestrian gate will also be created. Land has also been allocated for a footpath link to a proposed housing site nearby.

River Clyde Homes set for record year of housing development

2018 is shaping up to be a record year of housing development for River Clyde Homes as the foundations of a new £2.6 million 20-home investment in South West Greenock begin to rise from the ground.

The Inverclyde-based housing association has begun work in the popular Mallard area to build 20 terraced and semi-detached homes comprising six 2-bedroom and 14 3-bed homes, designed by Chameleon Homes and built by Cruden Building.

The homes, which will all have back and front gardens, are situated on the former site of five blocks of flats that were demolished in recent years. They will be of red brick construction with cladding and pitched roofs to compliment the surrounding architecture. Access for all houses will be provided off a new road, which will link the existing Mallard Crescent road to Merlin Lane. Traffic calming measures will be introduced to ensure community safety.

The homes in Mallard are part of River Clyde Homes’ ambitious plans to build 750 new homes in Inverclyde over the next five years.

Cruden Building is also set to begin work at the historic James Watt Dock in Greenock in spring. The development in this scenic waterfront location will comprise of 136 new homes which will be a mixture of one and two bedroom flats over 2 phases. Eight of these homes are being built in an innovative partnership with Blackwood Housing Association and will accommodate a range of accessible, modern, attractive and bespoke flats aimed at providing great value to people with a large range of disabilities and housing needs.

A total of 96 new homes are being built in the Slaemuir area of Port Glasgow and phase one is underway, this will see 28 new homes ready by Autumn this year. Phase two of the Cruden-built development is currently being developed and will see 68 new homes ready in 2019.

In addition, the 41-home development at Bay Street, Port Glasgow is nearing completion and homes are likely to be available to let in the spring. These homes are being developed by Cullross.

Cunninghame Housing Association delivers 70 new homes in Ardrossan

Cunninghame Housing Association has completed a development of 70 houses and flats for rent in Ardrossan.

The total project costs for the Montgomerie Street development, including private finance was, £7,725,987, with £4,519,000 awarded in grant from the Scottish Government.

The main contractor for the work was Ashleigh (Scotland) Ltd, while MAST Architects, quantity surveyor TCS Construction Consultants and structural engineer Scott Bennett Associates made up the project design team.

Minister for local government and housing Kevin Stewart MSP, who carried out the official sod cutting ceremony in August 2016, revisited the site last week to carry out the official closing ceremony for the project now named Sweeney Court/ Sweeney Street after Cunninghame Housing Association’s chief executive, Frank Sweeney.

The project is part of a three site development which has provided 19 Apprenticeships by Ashleigh (Scotland) Ltd and its sub-contractors as part of the Association’s community benefits contract requirements.

Kirkwood Homes to launch two new developments in Dundee

Housebuilder Kirkwood Homes is launching two new developments in and around the city of Dundee this weekend.

A launch event is being hosted on February 17 and 18 in the Art Gallery Suite of the Apex City Quay Hotel, where attendees can discover more about these luxury new homes and apartments that will be coming soon to the Hawkhill area of Dundee and the village of Liff.

The DD1 Hawkhill development will offer a choice of 45 apartments to buyers and will have range of styles and layouts to choose from. Each apartment available at the development has two bedrooms, with the master having an en-suite bathroom.

The village of Liff will also welcome The Beeches, Kirkwood’s new development of just 18 executive four and five bedroom homes.

All homes on both developments have been designed to include Kirkwood Homes’ high quality of standard specification and finish.

The growth into the area is part of the company’s long-term expansion strategy, as it looks to extend its offering from a predominantly North East of Scotland focus to other areas of the country.