Large construction projects are continuing apace in Belfast with the office sector leading the charge.
That was the message from the latest Deloitte Belfast Crane Survey which showed that 23 major development schemes were under construction or completed in 2021, just behind the 24 recorded in 2020 and the 26 in 2019.
The widely watched survey found seven significant projects broke ground in 2021, the same level as in 2020 and the joint lowest since the report began.
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It said the pipeline for the year ahead remains healthy with over 650,000 square feet of office space to be completed across five schemes.
However, the report also said that tenancy arrangements for a large proportion of new office space have yet to be confirmed in light of recent work from home guidelines.
It follows a busy year in 2021 in the city when nine major developments were completed, three grade A office buildings, a city centre event space on Royal Avenue and the refurbishment of the Odyssey Pavilion into a new leisure destination
The office sector saw nine grade A office developments under construction or completed in 2021, amounting to over 1,000,000 square feet of space.
That includes Bedford Square, a part new-build, part refurbishment project comprising 210,000 sq ft of office space on Bedford Street, which will be Deloitte’s new headquarters; and The Paper Exchange, an 11-storey building with 155,000 sq ft of new office floorspace.
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“Despite a number of challenges, the Belfast construction market remained resilient as office space continued to drive the development of the city centre,” Simon Bedford, partner in real estate at Deloitte, said. “It’s encouraging to see a healthy pipeline, with 2022 set to be a record-breaking year for office development in the centre.
“With a move towards collaborative office spaces and a new focus on Environment, Social and Governance, occupiers are demanding more from their workspaces. As we move forward in 2022, these areas may need to diversify to adapt to the future of work.”
The residential sector remained slow with no new major construction starts in 2021 and only 42 homes completed in 2021.
No new hotel schemes were completed in 2021. The survey found this to be driven by both pandemic-related disruption impacting the tourism and leisure sector and a substantial volume of hotel projects having been completed between 2016-2018. However, a new hotel development began construction in 2021, which is due for completion in 2023. This is the first since a total of 1,200 rooms were finished at hotel projects in 2018.
One retail scheme was completed in Castle Place, creating 34,000 sq ft of space, while work continued on the rebuilding of the listed Bank Buildings.