Plans have been unveiled for a £50 million sterling (€79 million) property development on land formerly occupied by troubled Belfast shipbuilder Harland & Wolff.
The public-private partnership behind the initiative says that it has the potential to attract investment worth £1 billion sterling to the 185-acre site on the edge of Belfast's city centre over the coming 15 years.
The plans foresee an area on Queens Island - to be named Titanic Quarter - being converted into a mixed-use development, including industrial, cultural and residential units. The end result would be Belfast's largest ever property development.
The Titanic Quarter development is being jointly led by the Belfast Harbour Commissioners and a subsidiary of Fred Olsen Energy, the owner of Harland & Wolff.
The two have estimated that the development, if approved, could create jobs for 20,000 workers. This compares to the 30,000 that were employed within Harland & Wolff when Belfast's shipbuilding activity was at its peak in the 1940s.
The North's inward investment agency, Invest Northern Ireland, has been singled out as a major tenant in the waterfront development, but a final decision on this move will not be made until early next year.
In the meantime, planning applications have been submitted for one major headquarters building and for 200,000 sq ft of light industrial development.
Titanic Quarter expects the latter to generate 250 jobs, with construction likely to begin early next year on an extension to the existing Channel Commercial Park.
The two applications have been made within the context of an overall masterplan, which Titanic Quarter chief executive Mr Mike Smith describes as a "context document". This plan includes the Northern Ireland Science Park, which is already under construction.
Mr Smith said the developers planned to spend £50 million on upgrading infrastructure on the Titanic Quarter site over the next decade and a half.
The remainder of the expected investment will come from the private sector, according to Mr Smith.
"We are confidently predicting £1 billion sterling over 15 years," he said, adding that there was currently "quite a demand" for investment property in Belfast among institutions.
The overall plan, if approved, will see slightly more than half of the proposed development being dedicated to business activities, 40 per cent to housing and the remainder to mixed-use and cultural development.
Berthing facilities for leisure craft have also been included.
Mr Smith said that the business activity would span "the complete range", from industrial to high-tech operations.
The site also takes in the slipways on which ill-fated ocean liner Titanic was constructed and the listed former Harland & Wolff headquarters building, both of which are considered attractions suitable for public-sector museum development.
The land on which Titanic Quarter is located was previously entirely dedicated to ship-building.
It became free in two blocks over recent years as activity at Harland & Wolff diminished in the face of increased competition.
The company continues to occupy a small "core" site in the proposed development area, employing 120 people.
Mr Smith declined to speculate yesterday on the future of the 150- year-old shipyard within the new development, but insisted that Titanic Quarter was "not benefiting from the demise of Harland & Wolff."
He was optimistic about the area's chances of attracting both foreign and domestic investment to the area, but acknowledged that the instability of the North's political situation was a problematic issue on this front.
"The end result will come if we can convince the international market to look at Belfast in a particular way," said Mr Smith.
