BELFAST BRIEFING:AN AMBITIOUS multi- millionpound project that aims to transform a neglected corner of Belfast from a wasteland into a thriving business park is the latest example this week of a new wave of confident investments being unveiled in the North.
Co Down-based Graham Group intends to take a derelict, depressing site on the Ormeau Embankment in south Belfast and inject new life into it with an ambitious £18 million (€23.9 million) regeneration plan.
The plan will physically transform the area, but it will also deliver a much-needed economic boost. Up to 250 jobs could be created during the construction phrase and the new business park will have the potential to attract employers to the area by providing accommodation for 650 workers. The redevelopment of the site, which will become the Ravenhill Reach Business Park, is expected to begin next year.
Michael Graham, executive chairman of the Graham Group, believes the project represents a good investment opportunity for the family-owned business.
The company was appointed to develop the site by the North's Department for Social Development. "This is about regenerating a site, about creating a sustainable legacy and it makes sense for us because we also own a site adjacent to this one and so it could be part of a larger scheme," says Graham. "The business park is one element of this, but we are also looking at a potential residential development."
Graham is one of the North's longest-established construction firms with a history stretching back more than 200 years. In the past four years it has expanded its business into the South and into Scotland.
The group reflects the determination of many of the North's top companies, which succeeded regardless of what was happening on the political front in years gone past. Now companies like Graham have the opportunity to enjoy their success with the knowledge that there is a local government in place that wants to support indigenous businesses and help them grow.
This year the Graham Group, which employs 800 people directly and supports several hundred more through local sourcing, is expected to have a turnover of about £220 million.
The fact the group has decided to invest and create jobs in the Ormeau Embankment is a vote of confidence in the future. The project is about much more than just the bricks and mortar it takes to create a business park in the heart of south Belfast, an area that suffered its fair share of heartache during the Troubles.
Depending on where you are standing, the view from the Ormeau Embankment offers a window on whether the peace dividend is in play or not.
From one vantage point, the view up the river towards the city centre reflects the bright lights of new inward investment from the likes of the Hilton Group and the Marriott chain, which plans to develop a new £25 million hotel on the gasworks site in Belfast.
From another viewpoint you can just about see the Lisburn Road. This has been affectionately referred to as Belfast's answer to London's Bond Street. It boasts a growing cluster of designer shops, trendy cafes and hip bars.
The regeneration of the site on the banks of the river Lagan is about changing the dynamic of an area and about creating new prospects. It is a theme that is becoming familiar across the North. The number of new developments and investments is slowly building momentum and this has created a new level of confidence about the future in the local business community.
Political stability has laid the foundation for this new-found confidence, but the momentum has been dampened because of concerns over the short-term prospects for the North's economy. Latest research from the University of Ulster, Bank of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive shows the average price of a house in the North fell from a high of £250,000 last summer to £230,000 by the end of 2007.
The university's quarterly house-price index not only confirms the slowdown in the housing market, but in some cases reveals a dramatic fall in prices.
Alan Bridle, head of research at Bank of Ireland, Northern Ireland, believe the North's housing market is "stricken with relative inactivity, uncertainty and nervousness over valuations".
The knock-on effect this will have on the local economy should concern the North's politicians more than it appears to.
This week political parties have been arguing over what events should or should not be held at Stormont. It is a depressing reminder that there are issues in Northern Ireland that will always be stumbling blocks and that will prevent people from different backgrounds seeing the value of the bigger picture.
The political row centres on Sinn Féin's plans to host an event to remember IRA member Maireád Farrell and the DUP's proposal to stage an event to commemorate the role of the SAS during the Troubles.
What the Northern Executive needs to do is get back to the future: to worry about where investment is coming from and where the jobs are going to be, and not issues which condemn everyone to the legacy of the past.
