Belfast ready for '˜business on a gobal scale'

Approval by the City Council for the 250,000sqft development at Belfast Waterside, the site of the former Sirocco Works, was hailed by Jim Osborne, chief operating officer for Vanguard Real Estate.

“This decision reflects months of hard work undertaken by the Belfast City Council Planning Department, and illustrates that the city is ready and open for doing business on a global scale,” he said on T.

“I’d like to thank the entire Belfast City Council team for ensuring this decision could be taken quickly by the planning committee, to enable development.

“The offices approved by Committee this evening, will help the city achieve its long term ambitions to attract new jobs from global companies who are choosing to invest in Belfast because of its talent, quality of life, and will support its growing prosperity.”

The scheme would provide approximately 2,500 jobs when complete, he said, adding that it was “only the beginning of our comprehensive vision” to deliver a mix of office space, city centre homes, a hotel and infrastructure including a new pedestrian and cycle bridge and high quality public spaces.

“We look forward to continuing a positive relationship with Belfast City Council, its elected representatives and the city’s community, as we progress further planning applications and investment in the city.”

The Belfast Waterside project is being brought forward by a multi-disciplinary team including architects Henning Larsen, Turley as planning consultants and AECOM as project manager.

Commenting on the approval Stuart Draffin, head of agency at Lambert Smith Hampton in Belfast, said it was good news for the city and the province as a whole.

“We are excited about the redevelopment of such an iconic city centre site capable of accommodating up to 850,000 sq ft of office accommodation and 750 homes.” he said.

“The Vanguard team have a proven global track record in delivering challenging large scale tailored property solutions on time and within budget for a wide range of occupiers. We are delighted to be working with the Vanguard team to secure occupiers for Belfast Waterside.”