King's Hall developers seek two-year extension to £100m revamp - nine months after deadline expired

The Lisburn Road building, an iconic part of Belfast’s live music history that hosted everyone from the Beatles to Nirvana, is being reworked into a “health village” including private health care facilities and elderly residential housing.

The listed landmark, which also used to be the home of the Balmoral Show, is being extensively reworked in the process – and the developers behind the project now want to put back the time limit for getting it done by two years.

Originally, the project was approved with a deadline of August 2024; the developers want that extended to August 2026, and have also changed some elements of the design for the building’s new look.

The extension is due to go before Belfast City Council this week for approval, nine months after the old deadline expired – but the move hasn’t proved universally popular.

An official objection has been lodged, arguing the site has been in a state of disrepair for long enough already and putting the deadline back would only prolong a situation that’s detrimental to the area.

In official reports, however, planning officials disagree with the objection and conclude the extension is allowable, stating: “Reasons have been provided such as external changes and alterations to the roof, therefore an extension for completion would be considered appropriate.”

Planners add that the developer has lined up a “suitable operator” for the health village, who wants some design changes to the exterior of the King’s Hall, including its roof.

It wasn’t possible to both get planning approval for and build those changes before August last year, state reports, and work has been deliberately held back as otherwise contractors would have had to construct the building as originally planned, then go back and restructure it after the redesign was rubber-stamped.

Say planners: “Now that new operator requirements are known and designed, the developer will be in a position to implement the renovation work.

“From a practical construction point of view, works to the remaining elevations and the roof should be delivered in tandem to limit noise and other disturbance during construction, and avoid duplication of work, and subsequently, waste.

“Officers have no reason to dispute the requirement of the applicants and consider it reasonable in principle to agree to [extend the deadline].”

Built in 1933 as a permanent exhibition hall for the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society, the King’s Hall was constructed on showgrounds at Balmoral and was known as one of Northern Ireland’s premiere venues.

In its heyday, it hosted famed musicians from far and wide, staging the Beatles in 1964, U2 in 1987 and Nirvana in 1992.

Requisitioned during the Second World War, the King’s Hall spent five years as factory manufacturing aircraft fuselage for bombers.

It also staged sports events; for example, it’s where boxing hero Barry McGuigan first defended his world championship belt, having fought there on six previous occasions.

The King’s Hall closed its doors in 2012.