Brand new dawn
Belfast’s ‘Canary Wharf’ under construction
Stephen Cross, corporate partner at Cleaver Fulton Rankin, talks with Business First about the excitement that is rising in Belfast.
B
elfast is seeing the benefit of unprecedented investment in cultural, leisure and business facilities and this is most apparent at Titanic Quarter which is shaping up to be Northern Irelandʼs
Canary Wharf. “Titanic Quarter is the largest regeneration project in Ireland and will be a significant catalyst for major investment and employment within Belfast,” said Mike Smith, chief executive and managing director of Titanic Quarter Ltd.
The unique waterfront development is key in establishing Belfast as a premier class European city for the new millennium. It is estimated that £15 billion will be invested in the area over the next 20 years and it is anticipated that upwards of 20,000 people, will be drawn in to the purpose built business district to live, work and play. Stephen Cross, corporate partner at Cleaver Fulton Rankin, thinks the next couple of years will totally transform the emerging economic colossus that is the Titanic Quarter developing rapidly in Belfastʼs historic docklands. “The 185 acre site is beginning to gain some momentum,” he said,
“and the pace of economic development is changing the area almost on a monthly basis transforming it into what is planned to be one of the largest, urban waterfront regeneration schemes in Europe. “If you are looking for some signs of economic optimism in Northern Ireland then look no further than the Titanic Quarter because I believe in a few years time it will be as essential to the future prosperity of Belfast and the regional economy as Canary Wharf is to the City of London.”
Cleaver Fulton Rankin is heavily involved in shaping developments taking place throughout Belfast and in particular in the area that used to be the heart of a world‑renowned shipbuilding industry.
“We are seeing this large
and ambitious development becoming a tangible reality with Belfast
Metropolitan College (BCM) beginning to take shape and the Public Records Office for Northern Ireland nearing completion. These two developments are complemented by the Gateway Office development and the residential and leisure development around Abercorn Basin which are already bringing people to live and work in Titanic Quarter,” said Mr Cross. “With all this and the Titanic Signature Project, housing a flying IMAX theatre, a scale model of the Titanic, a maritime museum and events facilities, due to open in two years time, this area of Belfast is going to be unrecognisably transformed into an economic generator that will benefit not just Belfast but the rest of the region, sucking in investment from GB, the Republic and from around the globe. “On top of that we will see services develop in parallel because the anticipated numbers who will live and work in TQ will all need to be fed, watered and entertained. The masterplan is designed, not unlike Canary Wharf, to create a self‑sufficient urban village, which provides everything needed for daily life including workplaces, culture and leisure, localised retail, healthcare and education facilities. In essence, a new community which gives a new dimension to living in Belfast and Northern Ireland.”
There's more to it than offices
He pointed out that when people first go to Canary Wharf they see the skyscrapers and offices but donʼt immediately see the apartments,
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Belfast’s Canary Wharf?
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