PUBS chain JD Wetherspoon has finally called time on its years-long battle to open a super pub in Belfast city centre.
In 2014 it bought the four-storey former JJB Sports premises in Royal Avenue, next door to CastleCourt shopping centre.
At the time it said it hoped to cash in on the influx of 15,000 students which were due to pour into the area when the new Ulster University campus opened, originally in 2017 but delayed until later this year.
But it has now emerged that the chain, founded in 1979 by Co Derry-born Tim Martin, has engaged property agents Lambert Smith Hampton to sell it and another high profile building in Belfast, the former Methodist Church on University Road in the south of the city, which Wetherspoon also acquired eight years ago.
The two properties are being sold with the benefit of vacant possession, with both being marketed for their "excellent redevelopment potential".
The Royal Avenue building, with a total floor space of 12,306 sq ft and an extensive rear yard, will have an asking price of £850,000.
Meanwhile the 9,260 sq ft University Road/Fountainville Avenue church, a short distance from Queen's University, is looking for offers of £750,000 or above.
The most recent planning approval was granted in 2017 for change of use from a place of worship to a public house. The previous approval, which has now lapsed, was granted in 2008 for change of use to offices and the demolition of adjoining buildings and replacement with 31 studio apartments.
Jonathan Martin, director at Lambert Smith Hampton, said: “These properties are prominently located in parts of the city that have continued to enjoy substantial development and regeneration over the past number of years.
“Both are strategically located, close to the city's university campuses, and both have significant redevelopment potential. We therefore expect the properties to appeal to a wide range of buyers.”
Planning had been secured for both sites to be turned into public houses, though the situation and scale of both properties mean they will suit a wide range of other uses.
