WORK has started on the £88 million redevelopment of the Kings Hall site into a new south Belfast health and wellbeing park.
H&J Martin has been contracted for the construction, which will see the landmark hall, vacant since 2013, transformed by Benmore Octupus.
The first phase involves the construction of Dataworks, the new ‘precision medicine hub’, designed to attract data-focused companies into a collaborative space.
London Stock Exchange-listed Belfast firm Diaceutics has already signed up as an anchor tenant for 10,000 square feet of space.
The extended site - formerly the Balmoral showgrounds - will also include care for the elderly and assisted living accommodation, a mixed-use medical facility and a multi-storey car park.
Benmore Octupus has said it is in negotiations with a number of healthcare providers interested in letting space within the park.
The developer has claimed that the completed project will be worth £47m a year for the north’s economy, supporting 640 full-time equivalent jobs. Another 320 jobs could be supported indirectly.
The construction project is expected to be worth £60m for the sector.
David Burrows, a director at Benmore Octopus, described the start of the work as an important milestone for what he said will be “one of the most innovative healthcare hubs in the UK and Ireland”.
He said the total investment in the refurbishment of the existing building and construction of new properties will reach £88.5m.
