Business

Buyers found for former Belfast headquarters of two Stormont departments

The sale of Clarence Court, Netherleigh House and Victoria Hall has now been agreed

Clearing out at Clarence Court which is sale agreed on Adelaide St Belfast.
PICTURE COLM LENAGHAN
Clearing out at Clarence Court as the Department for Infrastructure relocates its headquarters to Belfast's Gasworks estate. It comes as the Department of Finance confirmed the sale has been agreed for the large city centre office complex. PICTURE COLM LENAGHAN

The former Belfast headquarters of two Stormont departments are on the cusp of being sold, netting millions of pounds for the public purse.

The sale of the Department for Infrastructure’s former base at Clarence Court on Adelaide Street, and the Department for the Economy’s Netherleigh House estate, has now been agreed, a spokesperson for the Department of Finance has confirmed.

The sale has also been agreed for the six-storey Victoria Hall building on May Street, which had been used by the Department of Finance.

All three sites were put up for sale earlier this year.

The asset sell-off followed a major review of government properties in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and hybrid working era, which backed a 40% reduction in the civil service office estate.

A Sale Agreed sign out The Department for the Economy's former headquarters - Netherleigh House.
PICTURE COLM LENAGHAN
A sale agreed sign on the 'for sale' sign at the Department for the Economy's former headquarters, Netherleigh House. The site includes a 19th century mansion and a number of office buildings. PICTURE COLM LENAGHAN

The buyers for the valuable publicly owned office assets have not yet been disclosed.

The 6.4-acre Netherleigh House site, which sits in the leafy residential Massey Avenue next to the Stormont estate, had been marketed for £5.75 million, while Victoria Hall had been listed for £2.75m.

No guide price was included for the eight-storey Clarence Court building, which is considered the most lucrative of the civil service assets placed on the market.

The 148,000 sq ft office building, which comes with its own 261 space multi-storey car park, occupies one acre of Belfast’s most recognised commercial district.

It had been marketed by Lisney as a refurbishment, repurposing or redevelopment opportunity.

Clearing out at Clarence Court which is sale agreed on Adelaide St Belfast.
PICTURE COLM LENAGHAN
The Department of Finance has confirmed the sale has been agreed for Clarence Court in Belfast. The sale has also been agreed for Netherleigh House and Victoria Hall in Belfast. PICTURE COLM LENAGHAN

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) is currently relocating to James House in the Gasworks business park.

It’s understood DfI has a target of vacating Clarence Court by the end of July.

The Department for the Economy vacated the Netherleigh House site at the end of April 2023, moving its main hub of operations to Adelaide House in the city centre.



However, Netherleigh’s 19th century mansion and the adjacent office buildings have been put to other uses in the interim.

The former Department for the Economy offices were transformed into a PSNI station for the second series of the BBC’s popular ‘Blue Lights’ drama.

Blue Lights series two behind the scenes
Behind the scenes of the second series of Blue Lights, which was shot inside Netherleigh House in August 2023. PICTURE: Christopher Barr (BBC/Two Cities Television)

In an interview with Time Out magazine, Blue Lights co-creator Adam Patterson compared the former Stormont offices to “a LEGO house”, stating, “we could break corridors down, shoot with a lot more depth, and follow characters around like in The West Wing”.

Meanwhile the Department of Finance has also confirmed the former social security office in Cookstown was sold in April 2024.

The sale of the Fairhill Road property comes eight years after its closure was first proposed.