Osborne+Co’s proposals for The Waterside Belfast, a £400m masterplan to regenerate the former Sirocco Works site in Belfast, have been approved by Belfast City Council’s Planning Committee. The application was given the green light at the planning committee’s June meeting, Thursday 13th June 2019.
The award winning masterplan, designed by international architects Henning Larsen, seeks to re-engage the city with the River Lagan, and through development of office space for c. 8000 jobs, c. 675 residential apartments, a hotel and serviced apartments space, to reimagine the former industrial site as a new connecting point in the city centre.
Vacant for a number of years, the 16 acre site which holds an important place in Belfast’s industrial past, will be transformed into a ‘live, leisure and workspace’ for a 21st Century economy and population. Chris Kane, Chairman of Osborne+Co commented: “We are delighted with this approval. We appreciate the effort that went into considering this application from the elected members, as well as, from the planning department who recommended it for approval. We will continue to proactively engage with the council and other stakeholders, in order to ensure that we are listening to their questions, as well as effectively communicating the enormous benefits The Waterside can bring to Belfast.”
Jim Osborne, Founding Director, Osborne+Co said “I wish to send a personal message to the people of Belfast, their elected representatives and their city officials. Thank you for your support but, more importantly, for your confidence in us to deliver on the promises that we have made to you and to the city of Belfast regarding our development at The Waterside. We will not disappoint you.”
According to Conor Osborne, Founding Director, Osborne+Co “The scale of this project is huge, and so are its potential benefits. Construction alone could create over 1000 jobs and it will bring a host of new facilities to this vacant site including community, cultural and leisure facilities, such as cafes, bars, gym, restaurants and local retail, as well as proposals to enhance pedestrian and cycle connections across the river. All of this will mean that the Waterside can be an engine for Belfast’s future social, cultural and economic flourishing. The approval of the masterplan is just the beginning and we look forward to continuing the conversation about how The Waterside represents a once in a generation opportunity to enhance Belfast’s status as a world class location to live and work.”
The masterplan approval builds upon that previously granted for a 13 storey, 250,000 sq. ft. office space that was secured in August 2018. Construction is scheduled to begin in the coming months under the guidance of Osborne+Co’s Construction Director Flan McNamara, formerly Project Director on the £2BN London Bridge Quarter (& The Shard).
Osborne+Co is a privately-owned global company whose vision is to deliver best in class developments, across all regions, with a specific focus on the end user client. That end user may be a city such as Belfast and its people, or partnering with one of the biggest multinationals in the world on their global property requirements such as HSBC, Santander, Nestle, Citi Group or Standard Chartered. Having created a truly global player, the founding directors have delivered more than 20m Sq Ft of developments across four continents worth £2.5BN to date. The company is currently working on 15 projects across seven countries.
