It was announced today that the development of a major new office scheme at the Movie House cinema site in Belfast City Centre has moved a step closer with the submission of a planning application to Belfast City Council. 

Subject to planning approval, ‘One Bankmore Square’ will be the largest single office building in Northern Ireland.
  
The cost of developing the building and Bankmore Square is estimated to be approximately £65m with the creation of over 570 construction jobs in the process.
 
The building will have enough space to accommodate up to 3,000 office workers across its 12 floors. Each single floor plate will comprise of 25,000 square feet of net useable space – a layout that proves popular with office occupiers.
 
The Richland Group intends to speculatively develop the 250,000 sq ft Grade A office scheme – complete with 8,000 sq ft of ground floor space for ancillary cafe, retail and leisure uses – at Bankmore Square on the Dublin Road. Subject to planning approval, One Bankmore Square will be the first new speculative office development in Northern Ireland since The Soloist building in 2008.
 
One Bankmore Square is a three minute walk from Belfast City Hall and the new £250 million Transport Hub for Belfast. The proposal also includes the transformation of Bankmore Square into a focal public open space with potential for an outdoor cinema and public art exhibitions.
 
Commenting on the project, CEO of Richland Group, Gary McCausland said, "One Bankmore Square is a quantum leap for Belfast’s office market, it brings world-class Grade A office accommodation to the heart of the city centre in a single phase development. We have assembled a brilliant home-grown professional team to deliver this exciting project and we look forward to seeing it through to completion in 2020."

Source: www.businessworld.ie