A major, high-quality apartment and townhouse development could be sited on the disused docklands at Queen's Island in Belfast where the Titanic was built and launched.
Queen's Island is also beside the £100 million sterling Odyssey Millennium scheme, at Abercorn Basin, which is currently the largest single building under construction on the island. The Odyssey scheme - with its 10,000-seat arena, 140,000 sq ft science centre, IMAX cinema and over 200,000 sq ft of pavilion space - is due for completion by late next year.
The Odyssey scheme has three components: sports; commercial pavilion with an IMAX cinema, multi-screen cinema, pubs, restaurants; and an educational and science building. Agents Richard Ellis Gunne have been retained to market the commercial element and have already agreed terms with Warner Village for the 12screen multiplex. The other 150,000 sq. ft will be for a family entertainment centre, bars, restaurants and leisure-related retail.
Everybody in Belfast recognises the potential for this site.
Laganside Corporation, which has achieved the highly successful regeneration of the city's river-front area, says the Queen's Island site would be ideal for development as apartments
Referring to the Queen's Island site beside Abercorn Basin, Mr Smith said: "There is a large area of land which is no longer used by Harland and Wolff for shipbuilding purposes and that has significant development potential - and part of the potential, we believe, for that site is high-density residential.
"It is a 40-acre site, I am saying, that has potential for high density residential development. Everybody in Belfast recognises the potential for this site."
The success of residential, as well as office and leisure development in Laganside has led to a stimulation of the apartment market, said Mr Smith. He pointed out that 600 apartments have been developed and all sold off the plans in past 18 months in the Laganside area, mostly on sites overlooking the river, many by Southern-based investors.
"Every single apartment has been bought off the plans and we reckon 60 per cent are owner-occupiers and 40 per cent are investors and we think about half the investors are Southern-based. The reasons for that is that the market in Dublin is overheated and people are looking at property in Belfast and there is a real opportunity here for both capital and rental growth.
"The (apartment) rental market in Belfast is a maturing one. It cannot be compared directly with Dublin but we started off with a low base and slow growth in the rental market. The rental market is now maturing and rents of over £1,000 a month are being achieved for the first time from corporate clients. That is at quite a small scale but it is growing. Belfast does not really have a well-established rental market, it is not strongly developed."
Successful apartment developments in the Laganside area include the Gregg's Quay and St John's Harbour riverside apartment blocks. An apartment bought a year ago in Gregg's Quay for £85,000 is today valued at £170,000.
The Odyssey scheme has three components: sports; commercial pavilion with an IMAX cinema, multi-screen cinema, pubs, restaurants; and an educational and science building. Agents Richard Ellis Gunne have been retained to market the commercial element and have already agreed terms with Warner Village for the 12-screen multiplex. The other 150,000 sq. ft will be for a family entertainment centre, bars, restaurants and leisure-related retail.
