Warner Brothers appraises Belfast

US entertainment giant Warner Brothers is investigating a possible high-tech back office studio development in Belfast.

Executives from the group, which is part of AOL Time Warner, have visited the new Titanic Quarter in Belfast to conduct an appraisal of possible investment opportunities on the site.

Fred Olsen Energy, parent company of Harland and Wolff, is the landlord of the 100-acre site, which runs alongside the River Lagan.

The group plans a high-tech quarter in Belfast, which it hopes will attract multimedia, informatics and telecoms firms to set up in Northern Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Science Park, expected to create up to 3,000 jobs, will be located in the Titanic Quarter and the developers have made overtures to several studios including Warner Brothers and Disney.

It is understood that Warner Brothers has explored the possibility of developing a sophisticated back-office development that would support its existing operations in the US in Belfast.

No firm investment decisions have been made regarding the site in Northern Ireland, which is one of several active possibilities executives are believed to be investigating at this time.

Warner Brothers is one of the giants in the entertainment industry in the US.

Its operations include feature films, television, home video and animation.

Disney Corporation and Warner Brothers are two of the major targets on the Titanic Quarter's wish-list of would-be tenants for Belfast's newest technology park.

The city is preparing to host the International Development Research Council world congress next month.

The group represents the property managers of leading global organisations such as Ford, Accenture, BT and IBM.

The "Leveraging Knowledge and Innovation to Create Corporate Value" conference will discuss the latest research and views of US and EU property leaders on the impact of technology and the current economic downturn on corporate real estate management.

It is the first time Northern Ireland will host the property research organisation and organisers are hoping it will help promote the North as an investment location.