A NAME change to a proposed redevelopment project in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter has been dismissed by campaigners as a "superficial branding exercise".
The £500 million scheme has been relaunched as 'Tribeca Belfast', with actor Jamie Dornan voicing a slick online video promoting the project.
Developer Castlebrooke Investments aims to create new office, retail and hospitality space on a 12-acre site beside St Anne's Cathedral which is bounded by Royal Avenue, Donegall Street, Lower Garfield Street and Rosemary Street.
But the Save CQ campaign has raised concerns over the plans, including the demolition of non-listed buildings and whether enough housing, public and cultural space is provided.
Rebekah McCabe, chair of Save CQ, said the new Tribeca Belfast name is "nothing more than a superficial branding exercise".
"The Tribeca brand is obviously known worldwide as one of the many gentrified neighbourhoods of New York, where the local culture and authenticity was used eventually to displace local residents and traders. There is nothing local or authentic about the Tribeca Belfast proposal or its brand," she said.
"Despite the rebrand, the content of the proposed redevelopment plans has not changed and therefore the objections we have been raising to them since February 2017 still stand."
Estelle Hunt, director of Castlebrooke Investments, said Tribeca Belfast "will be an iconic development in the heart of the city".
She said Belfast "is a city in transformation", and "is in need of a changed urban landscape and the regeneration of Tribeca Belfast caters for this requirement".
