CITY planners can expect a raft of bids to adapt buildings, a property expert has said – with more restaurants and smaller shops predicted.

As lockdown restrictions ease today, Glasgow residents are being encouraged to explore the city centre again.

There has been increasing debate about the future of the high street in the wake of Covid-19.

And Louise Norris, a Glasgow-based partner in the commercial property team at Lindsays, is upbeat about Glasgow – from retail to offices.

She said: “People are looking forward to being able to go back to the shops, but I think that city centre shopping is going to become more bespoke as things settle in the aftermath of coronavirus.

“Shopping is going to be more of a social experience. Changing habits accelerated by Covid-19 mean that bigger shops are going to have difficulties. We can see that already.”

Other uses for that space will need to be found, she said, creating opportunities. “Former shop space can be converted to become cafes, restaurants, offices – or even homes.”

A Glasgow City Council strategy aims to double the size of the city centre population to 40,000 over the next 15 years.

And a council spokesman said change is already underway, with enquiries received – although there is yet to be a significant rise in applications. Some changes will be accelerated by the pandemic, he said.

Examples of planned major developments include a proposal for more than 700 homes at Portcullis House, the former HMRC building at Charing Cross, and an office and 260-bed hotel scheme at the Met Tower.

Candleriggs is also being redeveloped, with a hotel, flats, offices and restaurants in the pipeline.

Ms Norris expects a “gradual evolution of the high street” and said council planners “will be bracing themselves” for applications.

She said “predictions over the death of the office have been premature”.

“The office world will evolve and I again expect there to be many plans to adapt offices to become more flexible to meet those needs.

“The need to create a lower carbon footprint plays into that too.

“New developments already underway in the city boast impressive environmental standards, which the world will get a glimpse of with the COP26 summit later this year.”

The council has launched a #LoveGlasgow campaign, reminding people the area is ready to welcome back visitors.

Anne Ledgerwood, general manager of St Enoch Centre and chair of the City Centre Retail Association, said Glasgow’s retail offering is “unrivalled”.

She added the St Enoch Centre had a “number of exciting retail and leisure openings coming up over the next few months”.

An ‘adventure’ bar, with axe-throwing and crazy golf, is set to open in the centre. The plans for the bar stated the leisure use would address vacancy rates, with the retail sector continuing to decline.

A city centre taskforce, which includes tourist organisations and the city’s chamber of commerce, was set up last year to respond to economic challenges arising in Glasgow due to the pandemic.

Since then, a national taskforce has been set up. Council leader Susan Aitken has said that taskforce would focus on areas where council powers are limited, such as finding new uses for empty properties.