Brimming with a lively cultural scene and plenty of green space, Glasgow is already a hit with home buyers. It’s also working its charms on the movie business.
This summer Glasgow was transformed into Gotham City for the forthcoming Batman blockbuster, The Flash. And only a week earlier, the city centre had undergone a 1960s New York makeover, with stars and stripes bunting, authentic old-style shop fronts and even a remodelled subway entrance, all for the Apollo astronauts’ welcome parade scene in the as yet unnamed fifth Indiana Jones movie.
The Glasgow Film Office is proactively helping film crews shoot here. Producers value only having to deal with a single council; by comparison, productions shot across London potentially have to deal with 32 different local authorities. In turn the city appreciates the revenue the film and TV sector generates: in 2019 for example, filming for Succession and the award-winning 1917 is said to have added £12.5 million to the city’s economy. The upward trajectory of Glasgow as a film location is set to continue as the Scottish Government appears to be supportive of recently submitted plans for a dedicated film and TV studio at Kelvin Hall aimed at making the city an even more attractive option.
The Indiana Jones movie is just one in a long list whereby Glasgow has stood in for New York. Back in 2018 the producers of Patrick Melrose, a five-part drama miniseries starring Benedict Cumberbatch, said the city’s appeal was its grand Victorian buildings and grid-style layout which mirrored the Big Apple. But the two cities have a surprising number of commonalities, besides their architecture.
While Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, with its array of department stores and designer boutiques, is ranked among the most expensive shopping streets in the world, Glasgow is a 'shopaholic's paradise' according to Lonely Planet. It is the UK's number 1 city for the highest retail market spend potential (outside London) and 11th in Europe alongside Milan, Zurich and Amsterdam.
New York may have the Hudson, but we have the River Clyde, the banks of which provide one of the most successful regeneration sites in the UK when it comes to new build-to-rent properties. This sector is transforming the residential market in Glasgow, with multiple sites currently underway in the area.
Manhattan properties which overlook Central Park command an enormous premium – indeed the area’s most expensive penthouse is currently on the market for a cool $169 million. But with its 90 public parks and gardens it is no wonder that Glasgow is known as the Dear Green Place. According to Savills, its abundance of green space has been a key reason behind the huge surge in demand for homes in the city during the pandemic, such as those on Athole Gardens in Glasgow’s West End which overlook a private residents’ park.
And while New York may have SoHo, Glasgow’s Finnieston has been voted as one of the 'hippest places to live' in the UK by The Times and one of the 'top ten coolest neighbourhoods' in Europe by The Independent. The neighbourhood has become a culinary and entertainment hub, with an array of bars and restaurants. Apartments, such as G3 Square, are now top of wish lists for many young professionals.
And of course you can get so much bang for your buck in Glasgow. The average price per square foot in New York City is £1,938 ($2,434) which compares to just £335 per square foot in Glasgow City, according to Savills Index.
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