Unite
New Gibson Street Student Residence
Eric Kay of GOW met Mark Smithers and Andrew Moncreiff from Unite in Offshore on 26 November 2008.
Unite have commissioned and manage several Glasgow based student accommodation residences. They have many more UK wide. No10 Gibson Street is due for hand over and occupancy mid to late January 2009.
Mark is the Hospitality Manager for the Gibson Street site and Andrew manages the residencies in Yorkhill. The Gibson Street residence will have 93 bedrooms with en suite facilities arranged in a variety of forms from studios to shared flats. Prices will be upwards from £109 per week depending on type of accommodation. The majority of first residents are expected to be international students from China and the Far East attending Caplin International School.
As neighbours of the new unit, GOW residents are interested in the day to day management arrangements for the site, including noise, bin uplifts, supervision etc. as well as how Unite on Gibson Street hopes to integrate into our established community. Our annual Gibson Street Gala may provide Unite with an opportunity to work with residents and local Traders.
Mark and Andrew were keen to stress Unite’s experience both of managing facilities such as this one in Gibson Street and their understanding of Community Involvement. Mark wishes to make sure that student residents will have the opportunity to learn about and become actively involved in local community development.. There will be a communal area within the building where historical and social information will be displayed.There will be an internal sales office, only likely to be open during office hours only, so Eric asked what provision would be made for supervision of the site out of hours. Although there will not be 24 hour caretaking, Unite have a 24 hour Glasgow-wide ‘response service’ for the student residents.
On a practical note : The building has a central courtyard where refuse and recycling bins will be kept. Refuse and recyclables will be collected via the gates onto Gibson Street and so the pavement will not be obstructed. Unite is proud if its green credentials and so recycling provisions will be in place for the arrival of the new tenants.
You may have seen the ‘To Let’ sign affixed to the lower level of the building – there was speculation earlier in the year if this commercial space would house a mini-supermarket, (along the lines of a Tesco Express), but currently the expectation is that it will be a sandwich shop or food provider although the contract has not yet been finalised.
For local residents who may be interested to see the completed development and the facilities provided, the managers indicated that there would be an opportunity to visit to view once the building has been “signed over”.
