McAleer & Rushe has received planning permission for its student housing scheme on the site of a former Metropolitan College building on McClintock Street/Blackstaff Square, Belfast.
Earlier this month McAleer & Rushe signed a £70m development agreement with Queen’s University to deliver 1,200 student bedrooms for it at McClintock Street and College Avenue, both prime city centre sites. It is anticipated that planning permission for College Avenue will soon be granted.
On Tuesday night Belfast City Council granted consent for a 476-bedroom building with ground floor retail space. The McClintock Street building will be 16 storeys high and is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2018. On Wednesday morning the university vice-chancellor professor Patrick Johnston and other university staff joined McAleer & Rushe for the official launch of the site.
The news marks the go-ahead for the second phase of the mixed-use development on the site. In November, the Cookstown and London-based developer got planning permission for a 14-storey, 206-bedroom hotel which will also comprise restaurants, bars and meeting and conference space.
The scheme sits on a prominent corner, within an area known as ‘The Linen Quarter’ which Belfast City Council and other Government agencies have targeted for major regeneration with plans including a major upgrade of the urban streetscape.
McAleer & Rushe Group Chief Executive Eamonn Laverty said: “McAleer & Rushe is looking forward to working together with Queen’s University to deliver the very latest provision of student accommodation shaped by our experience of working on other similar projects across the UK. We would also commend the hard work being put in by the City Council to enhance the attractions of our City and push forward its economic and cultural renaissance for the benefit of us all”.
