A leading Paris-based property group has got the green light to develop a £20 million, 11-storey office in a former Victorian building, which once housed a bank, in the heart of Belfast.
Stargime acquired Graham House, on Queen’s Square in Belfast for an estimated £2 million in 2015 and applied for planning permission to develop 80,000 sq ft of Grade A offices last year.
Belfast City Council’s planning committee granted approval to Stargime on Tuesday evening and to another £50 million proposal for a landmark Belfast Waterside development project - securing a total investment injection for the city worth £70 million.
Vanguard Real Estate has also received planning permission to transform the former Howden Sirocco site, once a major source of employment in the city, into a 13 storey office development that could accommodate 2,500 workers.
The office development is the first phase of an ambitious £400 million project to breathe new life into the 16 acre site, close which overlooks the River Lagan, with both commercial and residential property proposals.
Belfast City Council wants to support the creation of 46,000 new jobs in the city by 2035 as part of the Belfast Agenda.
Councillor Matt Garrett, chairman of Belfast City Council’s planning committee, said the city wants to attract further development projects like Stargime’s and Vanguard Real Estate’s to realise its ambitions.
Councillor Garrett said: “The Belfast Waterside development will benefit both office workers and city residents – and act as a catalyst for the regeneration of the wider Sirocco site.
“The approach to the building’s design and landscaping has taken its cues from the Giant’s Causeway, and it’s exactly the type of high quality environment that we’re encouraging local and global investors to develop in Belfast, as we work to deliver our Belfast Agenda commitments, and to secure a Belfast Region City Deal with Westminster.”
