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Lands comprising the existing Fanum House site and adjacent lands, 104-110 Great Victoria Street, Belfast, BT2 7BE DIGITAL PREAPPLICATION PUBLIC CONSULTATION EVENT Hello& Welcome INTRODUCTION Welcome to the virtual Pre-Application Community Consultation (PACC), this website forms part of the Community Consultation in respect of lands comprising the existing Fanum House site and adjacent lands, 104-110 Great Victoria Street, Belfast, proposed to be named ‘The Grattan’. The development proposal includes the demolition of the existing Fanum House (a 1960’s oce tower), and the redevelopment of this underutilised brownfield site for a ‘Build to Rent’ apartment scheme, with commercial unit on ground floor. The site is situated within a prime location along Great Victoria Street, which is one of the key transport corridors on the approach to Belfast City Centre and includes a frequent bus route from South Belfast. CONSULTATION DURING COVID19 In light of the current situation under COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing measures, temporary pre-application community consultation regulations were introduced. These removed the requirement for a public event but encouraged and provided guidance for alternative consultation measures. We are using a number of online, digital, and remote tools to help you provide feedback on our proposals. PURPOSE OF CONSULTATION AND NEXT STEPS The purpose of this webpage is to share our indicative proposals with the community and other interested parties, prior to the submission of a Full Planning Application to Belfast City Council in the first quarter of 2021. We are committed to engaging with members of the wider community and are now undertaking a period of pre-application community consultation (PACC) on our proposals. The feedback received will be shared with the design team and will help to shape our proposals prior to the submission of a planning application. We will prepare a Pre-Application Community Consultation Report which will provide a summary of all feedback, our response and how we have incorporated any appropriate feedback into the final proposals for the scheme. This report will be submitted as part of the Full Planning Application to Belfast City Council. HOW TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK AND FIND OUT MORE Visit our Website www.TheGrattanBelfast.com This website is a one-stop-shop for all information on our proposals. You can browse our plans, view information documents, and complete an online feedback form. Speak to Us Our project team is available Monday-Friday 9am-5pm to discuss the proposals or respond to any queries you may have. Contact: MCE Public Relations Limited Tel: 02890267099 Email: [email protected] Download the Proposal Pack You can download an electronic copy of the proposals pack on our website, all you have to do is click on the link within the homepage. If you have any issues downloading the pdf then please call MCE Public Relations on 028 9026 7099 or alternatively email [email protected]. Closing date for feedback – Tuesday 23rd February, 5pm South Bank Square Limited is a residential and commercial property development company that was formed in 2012. South Bank Square’s Associate Company, BSG Civil Engineering, is a large scale public utilities and civil engineering contractor who undertake a range of civil engineering contracts for various public bodies across Ireland. Included below are a few local development projects delivered by South Bank Square Limited for both residential and commercial/leisure uses: ETAP Hotel, Dublin Road, Belfast Parkhill, Ballyoan, Derry/Londonderry • 170 bedroom 3 star hotel • Mixed use development with circa 800 residential units together with • Pre-let Accor Hotels public open space, new equipped children’s play areas, associated retail, • Development built in 2012/2013 oces, and childcare facilities, including upgrade works to the Gransha Road/A2 Clooney Road Roundabout. • Up to 1,000 construction jobs are to be created through this scheme, thereby delivering huge added value to the North West region and local community in terms of jobs opportunities and regeneration. Strategic Context & Site Location The City of Belfast, which is the capital of Northern Ireland and the core of the Belfast Metropolitan Area, is the largest settlement in the Region. Belfast occupies a strategic location on the Eastern Corridor of Northern Ireland, located approx. 169 km from Dublin, and has a population of approximately 280,211 (Census 2011 data). The city boasts strong cross border transport links between Northern Ireland and the Republic. In addition, the area has good road and rail connections to other main settlements such as Lisburn, Bangor, Armagh, and Newry. The application site comprises a rectangular plot of land measuring 0.2ha, which encompasses the existing derelict Fanum House site and adjacent lands, 104-110 Great Victoria Street, Belfast It is located approximately 650m to the Strategic Context south west of City Hall within the City Centre. The site is bounded by Great Victoria Street to the west, Ventry Street to the south, oce/retail units (Norwood House) to the north, and Filthy Mc Nasty’s Public House located to the east of the site. Situated on a prominent corner location on Great Victoria Street and Ventry Street, it is within walking distance to a wide range of amenities and services, such as Great Victoria Street Train/Bus Station, the new proposed Weavers Cross (Transport Hub), Donegall Pass and Queens University. Local Context Existing Site 'Build to Rent' The Belfast Agenda& Build to Rent (BtR) is a subsector of the PRS market which represents a growing proportion of the housing market within the UK. The Build to Rent (BtR) Sector was one of the few positives to emerge from the wreckage of the 2008 financial crash and subsequent recession. Since 2008, the BtR sector across the UK has grown by about 20%. As of Q1 2020, there are approximately 155,000 BtR homes in the UK planning pipeline and approximately 50,000 BtR homes have been completed. In the early years of the last decade (2010 – 2014) BtR was focused on London primarily and the capital accounts for about half of all completed BtR schemes to date. In more recent years, the BtR investors and operators have been more focused on areas outside of London. This has resulted in the exponential growth of BtR in cities such as Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds, Edinburgh and Cardi to the extent that the development pipeline is now concentrated in areas outside of London. In the last couple of years, we have seen large BtR schemes starting in Glasgow and other smaller regional UK Cities such as Bristol. The average size of the BtR schemes in Planning across the UK is 253 units (2018 – 157 units) and we expect that trend to continue due to the economies of scale that are sought by the operating companies. Build to Rent is a relatively new concept in Belfast with only a handful of schemes having obtained planning approval or currently going through that process. The main aims identified by Belfast City Council within the Belfast City Centre Regeneration & Investment Strategy (BCCRIS) of 2015 and the Belfast Agenda (2017) were to significantly increase the Cities resident population by 66,000 up to 2035. BtR developments in this location would therefore help to achieve such aims and objectives, as set out within The Belfast Agenda Community Plan, by promoting/delivering inner city living and creating a vibrant, sustainable, and well connected environment for people to live and work. BtR is an important factor in retaining young talent in our cities, and attracting young talent to relocate to Belfast. BtR is not exclusively aimed at the young professional market however it is extremely popular amongst this particular demographic in other UK Cities. The BtR sector presents a once in a generation opportunity for Belfast City Centre to be revitalised and regenerated through the construction of purpose built and expertly managed BtR developments. The BtR market is typified by well designed, super-ecient, and professionally managed blocks of apartments. This sector has attracted Institutional Investment into a number of UK Cities, and these International Investment Funds can also be encouraged to invest in Belfast if the right opportunities are presented to them. We feel that this site presents one such opportunity in a strategic location close to a major transport hub, the city centre, the Universities, and the Hospitals. If we wish to retain our highly educated graduate population in Belfast City Centre then we must make a concerted eort to produce BtR developments such as ‘’The Grattan’’ for them to live in. Academy Street, Belfast El Divino, Belfast • 16 storey residential building comprising 105 units • Residential development comprising 154 units (60 no. 1-bed, and 45 no. 2-bed) • Including ground floor retail unit, reception and management suite area, • Ancillary ground floor uses including management suit, café, internal and external communal space, open space and environmental servicing (refuse/recycling/cycle storage/general storage), roof terrace, improvements, car parking with access from Mays Meadow, bin storage, plant room, substation and associated public realm works. cycle parking plant equipment and storage. Area Plan Context Within the Draft BMAP published in November 2004, the site is located within Belfast City Centre and designated as a Proposed Development Opportunity Site (CC061) – see Figure 1. ‘Development Opportunity Site Designations’ sought to promote the re-development of vacant or under-utilised sites. The site was also identified as being within the Shaftesbury Square Character Area (CC061) and core area of Parking Restraint. Following a Public Inquiry (which took place between April 2007 and May 2008), the Planning Appeals Commission (PAC) published their reports in June 2012, and BMAP was subsequently adopted in September 2014. Within the final adopted version of the plan, the Development Opportunity Site designation (‘CC 061’) was removed and the site was left as ‘unzoned whiteland’.