Press release: New £1.3 billion property portfolio to drive investment in Northern Ireland

The Department for International Trade (DIT) and Invest Northern Ireland will today (18 October) launch a portfolio of exciting property investment opportunities worth more than £1.3 billion in Northern Ireland.

The 7 projects will be unveiled at the MIPIM UK property conference being held in London this week and will include opportunities for UK and international investors in a range of sectors.

The portfolio includes Belfast projects such as the £365 million development in the Titanic Quarter offering film production facilities, 2,000 residential units and offices as well as the opportunity to play a part in the comprehensive regeneration of the city’s train station at Weavers Cross.

The launch of the portfolio comes against a backdrop of positive indicators for Northern Ireland with recent research by CBRE identifying Belfast as the third fastest growing office market in the world. The combination of a young population, high quality education and thriving tourism is clearly an attractive offer for international investors with 75% of the 900 overseas companies in Northern Ireland choosing to reinvest in the country.

Minister Garnier will launch the portfolio at MIPIM this afternoon and Minister for Trade and Export Promotion, Rona Fairhead will open the HMG stand earlier in the day. The conference will run until Thursday with the HMG stand showcasing new projects that are ripe for inward investment.

Minister for Investment, Mark Garnier, said:

There has never been a better time to invest in Northern Ireland and these projects give investors the opportunity to do just that.

As an international economic department our message is loud and clear: the UK is open for business, and we can help find the right investment for you.

Steve Harper, Invest NI’s Executive Director for International Business, said:

We are delighted to be able to showcase Northern Ireland’s strong proposition and the genuine commercial opportunities which are currently ripe for investment in conjunction with the Department for International Trade.

The 7 projects in the portfolio are:

• Titanic Quarter: further phases of development to include studios and post-production facilities as well as offices and residential
• Weavers Cross: potential for phased development of offices, residential, hotel and retail
• Sirocco Quays: mixed use development of offices, hotel, residential, retail and leisure
• One Bankmore Square: grade A offices with full planning permission
• 21-2 Corporation Street: £92 million development including hotel, offices and residential
• Norwich Union House: c. 17,000 sq m of offices, hotel and retail in the city centre
• Baptist Church: grade A offices close to the proposed new transport hub

The portfolio has been put together by the DIT’s Capital Investment team which leads the government’s drive to attract and support international investment into large scale property, regeneration, infrastructure and energy projects across the UK, working in collaboration with Invest NI, Northern Ireland’s regional economic development agency.

During the most recent financial year, DIT’s Capital Investment Team was involved in more than £13 billion of capital investment in British infrastructure and real estate, with 14% of global commercial property investment transactions occurring in the UK during the first half of this year, second only to the USA.

Further information

Contact the DIT Media and Digital Team on 020 7008 3333.

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