Vertigo to invest £3m in Smithfield and Union development
The site of the Haymarket bar and nearby units on the corner of Royal Avenue and Gresham Street are set to be transformed thanks to a £3million investment from leisure group Vertigo.
Plans by Vertigo to purchase the Haymarket site from owners including lottery winner Peter Lavery first came to light in September.
Vertigo, led by Gareth Murphy, has invested £1.5m in the site already but plan to invest another £1.5m on hospitality venues, bars and restaurants and has already submitted plans for the Smithfield and Union development with Belfast City Council.
The move comes as the nearby Ulster University campus nears completion and on the back of the announcement of the £100m Belfast Stories museum by Belfast City Council at the corner of Royal Avenue and North Street.
CastleCourt too is set for an £11m investment with plan for a new cinema, hospitality and leisure complex approved earlier this month.
He said a “sense of normality” had returned to his businesses over the summer adding: “We’ve had staycation business from home and people from Ireland, so it’s been nice to see people returning over the summer months.
“All the venues are now open, and it’s been nice after so long of staff stopping and starting work to have some momentum.”
As well as the Smithfield and CastleCourt investments, parts of the nearby Cathedral Quarter were also due to be transformed into a district to be known as Tribeca, by developers Castlebrooke. In December, Castlebrooke said it was still “committed” to the project.
Ulster University is gradually relocating much of its operations to a new campus at York Street close to Royal Avenue, where 15,000 students will be based.
