New €450m Belfast housing development gets green light

Planning permission has been granted for a £400 million (€450 million) development project that could create homes for 1,500 people in Belfast.

The council’s planning committee believes the Belfast Waterside scheme, on the 16-acre site of the former Sirocco Works, will “transform” the east bank of the city by creating a new mixed-use waterfront development.

It said the scheme would be home to offices, apartments, a hotel and retail outlets.

The Sirocco Works site, which at one stage had been under the ownership of the American vulture fund Cerberus, is being developed by Osborne+Co (Swinford Sirocco).

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The developers have said their scheme will “regenerate” the site and has the potential to support 8,295 jobs in the long term.

The company has also outlined that the residential accommodation component of the scheme will create “sustainably located city centre homes” and at least 20 per cent of these will be affordable housing.

Public square

There are also plans to develop a “creative cluster” building that will face on to the river Lagan, which will feature a public square highlighting the site’s industrial heritage and also create new space for community and arts use.

Cllr Arder Carson, chairman of Belfast City Council’s planning committee, believes the new Waterside development project is “a massive step forward” for the city.

“The provision of additional high-quality office space in a brand new part of the city centre will be hugely attractive to investors as Belfast continues to grow in stature internationally as a great place to do business,” he said.

“I’m also pleased that this project will not only finally transform a site which has been out of use since 1999, but also provide affordable housing units, responding to housing need and ensuring it becomes a place for everyone, with the facilities required to reflect our expected growth in our population by 2035.”