Planning permission has been granted for a major new £59 million development at Belfast’s Harbour estate.
City Quays 5 is the latest major scheme in Belfast Harbour’s development pipeline, and is a 9-storey mixed-use building that will feature 160,000sq ft of space at its site at at Donegall Quay.
The project will include office space, ground floor retail and exhibition space, along with a “roof-top hospitality destination” that will be open to the public as well as office workers.
City Quays 5 is the latest stage in the trust-owned port’s wider £275m regeneration investment.
Planning permission was granted in January for City Quays 4, a 23-storey build-to-rent apartment scheme with 256 units to developed between the M3 Lagan Bridge and the AC Marriott.
Once constructed, City Quays 4 will be one of the tallest residential buildings on the island of Ireland, at 76.4m high.
The 16-storey City Quays 3 opened last year for office tenants.
Welcoming the approval for City Quays 5, Belfast Harbour’s development director Kevin Ryan said: “Working collaboratively with Belfast City Council and Department of Communities’ Historic Environment Division I am pleased we have been able to secure this approval within six months.
“Creating an iconic waterfront and a vibrant inner harbour continues to be one of Belfast Harbour’s key strategic goals and we are pleased that planning has been granted to progress the next phase of our wider City Quays Masterplan Vision.
He added: “Aligning with our environmental goals, we are also targeting the BREEAM Outstanding certification for City Quays 5, which would be the highest standard achieved to-date for a new office development in Northern Ireland, helping to set the standard for future developments in the city.”
Meanwhile, approval was also granted for development at the first Irish language preschool in east Belfast.
Bunscoil na Seolta submitted the planning application approved for a temporary nursery/primary school and soft play area in the Montgomery Road area.
Naíscoil na Seolta is due to open its doors in September to primary pupils, having been running as a nursery school since 2021.
Approval was also renewed for a £67m redevelopment of the former Belfast Telegraph building on Belfast’s Royal Avenue.
Approval had previously been granted in 2019 for the development , which will see the retention of the retention of the listed Seaver building, with a new six to eight storey office-led building constructed.
