Belfast Harbour Completes Second Major City Quays Office Building

Belfast Harbour has completed the second building in its City Quays Grade A office-led development.  The nine-storey, £22 million office, which can accommodate up to 1,000 people, was built by Lagan Building Contractors in under 18-months.

Located beside the Harbour’s new AC by Marriott hotel due to open early next year, City Quays 2 joins the fully occupied City Quays 1 office building.  Belfast Harbour has also submitted planning for a third office building, the 250,000 sq ft City Quays 3.

The Harbour expects that the wider £250 million City Quays development scheme, plus the start of filming at the new Belfast Harbour Studios, where Warner Bros has started to shoot the new Krypton series, will help support the creation of 10,000 new jobs in the Northern Ireland economy.  

Roy Adair, Belfast Harbour’s CEO, said:     

“We are delighted with the market demand for City Quays office space. Market research and feedback from stakeholders such as Invest NI indicates that there is a shortage of quality Grade A office accommodation in Belfast. This has been borne out by the number of enquiries City Quays continues to generate and we remain confident about the strong level of demand for high-end office space in the city centre.   

“Since Belfast Harbour began marketing City Quays interest has been consistently strong, particularly from North America, GB and locally. A number of parties have already made initial approaches about City Quays 3 which, depending upon planning, should begin construction early next year.”

The 124,000 sq ft City Quays 2 has been designed to meet the highest international sustainability accreditation, BREEAM Excellent.  Materials used in its construction included 700 tonnes of structural steel, 3,500 m3 of concrete and over 5,000 m2 of glazing.  The project also supported 600 construction jobs.

Jon Adams, Managing Director of Lagan Building Contractors, said: 

“Lagan Building Contractors are proud to have successfully delivered this prestigious BREEAM Excellent Grade A office development for our client, Belfast Harbour, to facilitate the local business community in Northern Ireland.”

Construction work has also commenced on a 900-space multi-storey car park at City Quays.  Current office tenants in the development include Baker & McKenzie, Cayan, MACOM and NBC.  By 2019 Belfast Harbour will have invested and committed £130million in its City Quays waterfront scheme.