A private local investor is reported to have paid £4 million sterling for the Commercial Union building on a key corner site at 1-3 Donegall Square South opposite Belfast City Hall. The building has 33,000 sq ft of accommodation. It is let to a number of tenants and most of the office space is ageing and in need of renovation. The selling agents, Insignia Richard Ellis Gunne, sold the property on the basis of its redevelopment potential.

Alan Gowdy, managing director of Insignia in Belfast, said the property is one of a number of office buildings in key sites in the city centre which are in need of renovation and are attracting interest from both local and southern investors. The rising market makes the investments attractive simply for their turnover value.