Business

Farrans revives plans to redevelop west Belfast headquarters

The Northstone group's headquarters in Dunmurry, Belfast
The Northstone group's headquarters in Dunmurry, Belfast The Northstone group's headquarters in Dunmurry, Belfast

FARRANS has revived plans to build a major development at its west Belfast headquarters next to the M1.

The mixed scheme at its base next to Makro in Kingsway, Dunmurry, includes a proposal for a supermarket, nursing home, office buildings and crèche facilities.

The application has been submitted by Farrans Construction Ltd, which is a division of the Northstone group. The company is ultimately owned by Irish construction giant CRH.

The revised plan marks a significant departure from the project Farrans secured planning approval for in 2010.

That application related to the demolition of buildings and the construction of a new three-storey 42,000 sq ft headquarters and a six-deck car park on the same site.

The bid also included a significant residential aspect, featuring 87 apartments built over seven blocks and 24 houses.

The new proposal would contain around 55,000 sq ft of floor space built over the one acre site.

Farrans Construction has lodged a proposal of application notice (PAN) with Belfast City Council.

Moneymore firm Manor Architects is designing the project.

Farrans is preparing to put its new proposal on public display at Beechlawn Hotel in Dunmurry at the end of March.

The latest set of accounts published by Northstone (NI) Limited showed the company had a workforce of t 1,388 at the end of 2018.

Turnover for the year to December 31 2018 largely held to 2017 levels at £374.5 million, albeit down by 0.2 per cent.

But pre-tax profits recovered from a £1.2m loss in 2017 to a £5.2m profit before tax in 2018.

Northstone’s operating profit also improved significantly from £305,000 to £8.5m.

The slight fall in turnover was blamed on a contraction of construction contracts, while the rise in profitability was due to a write down of development land and stock during 2017.

Farrans Construction has been involved in a series of high profile projects in the past year.

The company was awarded the main contract to build the 16-storey City Quays 3 tower for Belfast Harbour.

The £50m project will become one of the north’s tallest buildings.

Farrans has also formed a joint venture with the Karl Group for the £50m Bangor Marine development.

The seafront regeneration project includes plans for leisure, office and residential buildings.