7 July 2000

£200M DEVELOPMENT FOR BELFAST'S VICTORIA SQUARE TO CREATE 3,000 JOBS

"Belfast now has the potential to establish itself as a major European city, with the opportunity to develop retail, culture and leisure facilities that will be on a par with its European rivals," said Nigel Dodds, MLA, Minister for Social Development.

Mr Dodds was speaking in the Waterfront Hall where he announced Victoria Square as his department's preferred location for Belfast city centre's new major shopping centre.

Mr Dodds decision will result in an investment of £200m by a Dutch based company, Multi Development Corporation, creating 3,000 jobs during construction and a further 3,000 jobs once the scheme is completed.

Outlining his reasons for selecting Victoria Square, the Minister said: "If Belfast is to successfully develop it must be able to compete internationally. My department has been assessing the merits of 4 potential locations and related schemes. The conclusion we have come to is that the Victoria Square proposal is the one which will have greatest overall regeneration benefit for

the city. It is a landmark decision that will ensure Belfast is a city of the 21^st century, with facilities to ensure it can compete on a strong basis with its UK and European rivals."

The Victoria Square scheme will be the Multi Development Corporation's first venture into the UK, although they have carried out a large number of award winning projects throughout Europe. Their proposal is for 500,000 sq ft of retail space including provision for a major department store, a hotel, health club, restaurants, apartments and car parking. Mr Dodds went on to say: "I see this major investment, of the order of £200m, as a sign of confidence and faith in the future of Belfast. It will attract major new retailers, help Belfast compete better with out of town shopping and establish Belfast as a European city."

Mr Dodds explained that his department's support would be dependent on the developer satisfying a number of requirements including finalising the contents of their scheme and securing planning permission. It is the department's intention to now promote a development scheme for the Victoria Square area which would go through a statutory public participation process and, if successfully adopted, provide the land use framework for the area. This in turn would provide the basis for any future compulsory land acquisition that the department might consider appropriate.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. Under the proposal, IDB House would be demolished and would become the site for a Department Store. House of Fraser is known to be very keen to move into Belfast city centre. Churchill House would be upgraded and converted to a hotel, possibly incorporating some apartments. The Victoria Centre would be replaced. The scheme is imaginative in design with glass covered streets to protect shoppers from the rain, two level pedestrian circulation and good linkages to the rest of the city centre. Roof gardens will be provided and one of the scheme features will be a glass-covered dome over a central rotunda space. Adjoining streets will be environmentally upgraded.
2. In regeneration terms, a scheme in Victoria Square will improve the linkage between Laganside and the city centre. It will both consolidate and expand the retail core of the city centre and accommodate growth. The scheme will balance the rest of the city centre and, by creating a "dumbbell" effect with CastleCourt, should help to significantly increase the circulation of shoppers throughout the city centre with consequent benefits for other areas lying between. The scheme will be open and accessible from all directions and will link into the existing streetscape. Because of its concept, design and range of uses proposed, it will offer an internationally competitive development for Belfast.
3. Four development consortia have each been working up proposals to provide a major new retail-based development on 4 different sites within Belfast city centre. The developers and their proposed locations are as follows:-

MEPC/John Laing Property	-	an extension of CastleCourt towards Upper North Street
Dunloe Ewart	-	a scheme extending from Royal Avenue to Donegall Street
Land Securities/Deramore Developments	-	a scheme in the Fountain Street, College Street, Queen Street, Castle Street area
Multi Development Corporation	-	a scheme centred on Victoria Square

4. Each of the developers had approached the department because of the anticipated need for some help in assembling sites and securing the extinguishment of certain roads within the sites. The Department for Social Development is the department with the appropriate compulsory purchase and related road closure powers. In order to assist the assessment of the projects, the department last year appointed Drivers Jonas, London-based Chartered Surveyors, in conjunction with Colin Buchanan and Partners, Planning, Transport and Economics Consultants. The Consultants' brief was to examine each of the proposals and the locations and to advise the department as to which was considered best in overall regeneration terms for Belfast. Their assessment has included consideration of planning, urban design, traffic management, commercial and wider urban and social regeneration issues.
5. The Consultants also verified the forecasts of demand and capacity for a major 1/2 m square feet retail development within the city centre. However there is a general consensus that the city could not support a second centre running in parallel. Two centres would simply confuse potential retailers and result in neither centre being viable.