Planning & DevelopmentThe €435 million Royal Exchange redevelopment project in central Belfast has just been given the green light, writes Ian Graham
A €435 million (£300 million) redevelopment scheme designed to continue the renaissance of Belfast city centre has been given the go-ahead.
The Royal Exchange project is due to open in 2011 after a three-year construction period during which 1,000 jobs will be created.
At least 2,000 permanent jobs in retail and leisure will be created by the regeneration which will be carried out by William Ewart Properties and their development partners.
The North's social development minister David Hanson chose the retail-led development of the north-east quarter of central Belfast over a rival scheme for the north-west quarter.
The minister said the rival area - on the other side of Royal Avenue behind the existing Castlecourt shopping centre - still had a development need for the future and would remain on the books.
Royal Exchange will provide almost 74,322sq m (800,000sq ft) of floor space, including 38,740sq m (417,000sq ft) for retail outlets.
An anchor department store - it is understood upmarket Dublin-based store Brown Thomas is being targeted - will be accompanied by two further anchor stores.
The plans provide for new retail units targeted at quality tenants, with complementary restaurants, bars, cafés, 200 apartments and offices.
The scheme also includes 700 underground car-parking spaces and a hotel to help accommodate the growing numbers of visitors to the city - fittingly on the site of the current Tourist Board headquarters.
The area to be developed - between the main Royal Avenue thoroughfare and Donegall Street - is characterised by blight and abandonment with historic buildings crumbling from neglect, said Hanson.
"An area that once contributed to the life of the city centre has deteriorated in physical, social and economic terms," he said at a Belfast press conference.
Hanson added: "Ewart's development proposal for this area envisages a new beginning and a bright future with new shopping, city centre living, office space to attract creative industries and transformation of the Northern Bank at Four Corners as an arts venue.
"It's time to awaken the potential of these streets and buildings."
The scheme will open up the city centre to the Cathedral Quarter development which is already underway.
It in turn leads on to the near completed Laganside riverfront redevelopment and the €435 million (£300 million) Victoria Square retail development which is well advanced.
Hanson said: "Belfast is a city with a bright future, a strong retail future."
Welcoming the scheme, Belfast's Lord Mayor Wallace Browne said it would put the city on the international map as a regional capital and give renewed pride to an already proud city.
"After 30 years of difficult times Belfast is getting back on its feet. A successful Belfast will be the driver for a successful Northern Ireland," he said.
Ben Rainford, managing director of ING Real Estate Development UK, one of Ewart's development partners - the other is local firm Snoddens Construction from Lisburn, Co Antrim - said: "Royal Exchange will revitalise the area with a mix of contemporary uses and public squares for the benefit of the whole of Belfast.
"The scheme importantly integrates the Cathedral Quarter and the other key parts of the city centre together into one linked and vibrant whole."
