Vast apartment block gets green light – with rooftop gardens overlooking Belfast

A towering new block of flats has been given the go-ahead in east Belfast – and it will be taller than the Europa Hotel.
One of the rooftop views contained in the planning documentsOne of the rooftop views contained in the planning documents
One of the rooftop views contained in the planning documents

The building would be 19 floors high, and would sit in a triangluar patch of land between the M3 Lagan Bridge motorway, and two sets of train lines, just off Scrabo Street.

It would contain 151 apartments, and would consist of two blocks – one eight storeys high and then a tower 11 storeys high.

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The highest point in the development would be about 55 metres (180ft).

A rooftop area view contained in the planning documentsA rooftop area view contained in the planning documents
A rooftop area view contained in the planning documents

This puts the building higher than the Europa Hotel (about 51m, or 167ft), one of the most dominant points in the city’s skyline.

However, this will still be quite a bit below the city’s biggest building, the Obel (85m, or about 280ft).

On top of both of the building’s rooftops (one upper, one lower) would be roof gardens with views across the city.

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Planning approval was given last week, and now the 0.74 acre site on which it will stand has been put on the market for £3.25m.

A view of the development from the groundA view of the development from the ground
A view of the development from the ground

Planning permission also includes a gym.

The planned make-up of the buildings will be as follows:

– 10 studio apartments;

– 50 one-beds;

– 91 two-beds.

Sizes range from 3,983 sq ft for the studios up to 60,321 sq ft.

Property firm Savills is handling the sale of the land.

In a statement it said: “The private rented sector across the city has seen an unprecedented increase in its tenure share between 2001 and 2021.

“It continues to play a critical role in the local housing market and provides much-needed accommodation for all household types with demand exceeding supply.”

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