A MULTI-MILLION pound waterfront development in Glasgow’s financial district is expected to get the go-ahead.

The £10 million redevelopment of the Clyde riverfront will take a leap forward this week with city planners due to recommend permission for pavilions housing bars, restaurants and cafes.

The joint city council/ private sector plan aims to create a new leisure quarter adjacent to the city’s International Financial Services District.

Permission for the 32,000sq ft Broomielaw development is expected to be granted at a meeting of the planning application committee at Glasgow City Council tomorrow.

The plans are expected to create up to 150 new jobs and complement the longer-term development aspirations in the area, including the creation of the Fastlink bus service between the city centre, the SECC and the new Riverside Transport Museum at Glasgow Harbour.

Capella Developments, which is behind the project, is looking to build four two-storey pavilion structures with restaurant and pub units and shopping. Seating areas at ground and first floor levels would also be created.

In a report to the planning committee, it said: “The proposed development is being seen by the applicant and the city council as a new food-and-drink visitor destination which will form the final phase in the revitalisation of Broomielaw Quay.”

With planning expected to be approved, work could start next year, with a completion date of 2013.

The plans were submitted earlier this year and were a major milestone for the project. Discussions about the area had been going on since the middle of the last decade but stalled in part due to the stop-start saga around the pedestrian bridge at the Broomielaw.

The planning report said the scheme will serve to enhance rather than detract from this section of the River Clyde, including use of the river and the Broomielaw Quay pontoon.

The report added the development’s distinctive architecture is also intended to help reinforce the development as a visitor destination.

The buildings will feature aluminium, shingle cladding and glass detailing.

The development will involve both the remodelling of parts of the existing riverside together with new traffic, pedestrian and cycling management measures and the provision of all necessary utilities.