Plan for £50m Sirocco office development submitted for Belfast Waterside

A detailed planning application has been submitted to transform Belfast’s Lagan waterside on the city-centre site of the former Sirocco engineering plant. It is part of the planned £400 million Belfast Waterside project of offices, 750 new homes and other developments at the old Sirocco works.

The initial planning application is for a £50 million investment to create a 250,000sq ft (23,225sq m) office development by Vanguard Real Estate. Vanguard, which owns Swinford (Sirocco) Ltd, is a joint venture between the Corbally Group, Graftongate and Gulf Resources Development and Investment.

“We are seeking to set a new benchmark for office space suitable for premium corporate occupiers. Recent reporting has indicated that Northern Ireland continues to attract FDI occupiers but an ongoing lack of quality supply is holding back office-rental growth,” Jim Osborne, director of Vanguard, said on Sunday.

“By 2020 there will be a thriving business and creative quarter as Belfast Waterside emerges as a highly successful mixed-use regeneration scheme, including offices, a hotel, serviced apartments, residential units for sale and rent, affordable social housing and significant retail and leisure space . . .

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“The residential and coworking elements of the scheme will be brought forward in the coming months, together with proposals for a new pedestrian and cycle bridge . . . Once completed, the £400 million investment will reconnect this important city-centre site to the rest of the city.”