Belfast city centre Tribeca site could be saved with unused Stormont funds

A prominent derelict area of Belfast city centre could be saved by unused public funds, it has been claimed.

The SDLP says unspent Stormont lending, known as Financial Transactions Capital, should be used to resuscitate the derelict site in Belfast known as Tribeca.

The party are bringing the debate to the Stormont Assembly today to explore options for developing the Tribeca site, which extends from Royal Avenue to St Anne's Cathedral.

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The area has become increasingly run down as the English firm which has owned the site since 2016 has made little progress on its plans. The SDLP say the site has "become an eyesore, attracting anti-social behaviour, costing the city millions in rates revenue, and detracting from one of the main hospitality and cultural hubs of the entire North."

Castlebrooke Investments received planning permission for the office-led Tribeca scheme in January 2020. Earlier this year, the chief executive of Belfast City Council said there had been "beyond a certain level of frustration in relation to the activity on the Tribeca site." The council also confirmed it was exploring the possibility of vesting or compulsory purchase of the scheme.

The SDLP's motion calls for ministers to engage with Belfast City Council on options to be developed - including the creation of a Laganside-style development corporation which could be used to develop the site and make use of Stormont's unspent Financial Transactions Capital, a type of funding which can only be used for certain types of transaction.

FTC is a form of infrastructure spending involving the executive investing in or making a loan to a private sector project. The FTC budget was underspent by more than £460m between 2016 and 2022.

Leader of the Opposition Matthew O'Toole MLA said: "We are open minded on how Tribeca is dealt with but the current situation is untenable and unacceptable.

"The developers are either unable or unwilling to progress it, meanwhile one of the most historic parts of the city, which includes the fabled Assembly Rooms, so significant in the history of enlightenment Belfast, is being allowed to fall into rack and ruin. Alongside it, our hospitality and cultural highlights in the rest of the Cathedral Quarter are being let down by this appalling dereliction and we are losing millions in rates revenue.

"The SDLP Opposition wants the Executive to work with Belfast City Council to grip this problem and allow us to benefit from the huge opportunities of a revitalised enlightenment district.

"If the site is vested, we could deploy unspent Financial Transacitons Capital (FTC) to deliver a new future for the site, with the Laganside Corporation offering some kind of precedent for how the structure might work. There are limitless economic, cultural and social benefits for the city to realise.

"If Ministers feel this isn't the right approach, they and Belfast City Council should explain their alternative. The status quo isn't defensible any longer."

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