PLANNING permission has been granted for the largest single office building in the north.
Belfast City Council has approved plans for The £65 million Richland Group development 'One Bankmore Square' - a major new office scheme at the Movie House cinema site on Belfast’s Dublin Road.
The building, when complete, will extend to 250,000 sq ft of Grade A office space – complete with 8,000 sq ft of ground floor space for ancillary retail uses – and will become the largest single office building in Northern Ireland.
In addition, as part of the overall offering, there is potential for the scheme to include a Movie House Cinema.
The building will have enough space to accommodate up to 3,000 office workers across its 12 floors. The lower floor plates will comprise of 25,000 square feet of net useable space – a layout that proves popular with office occupiers – and the upper floors will extend to 15,000 sq ft with a large wraparound roof terrace on the 9th floor.
It is expected that over 570 construction jobs would be created and upon completion the 12 storey building could generate as much as £128 million a year for the local economy.
Gary McCausland, CEO of Richland Group said there has already been "very positive" interest in the site.
“We’re delighted with this outcome and excited that we can now concentrate on delivering One Bankmore Square, Northern Ireland’s most ambitious office scheme to the market and continue to progress discussions with potential occupiers."
The Richland Group lodged the planning application in March following a lengthy design and consultation process.
