The plan would replace 150 car park spaces with an office block and 15 car park spaces
An unpopular £36 million plan by a Translink-related company to develop an eight-storey office building with retail units at the Lanyon Place Station car park site is being held up for a site visit by councillors.
City Hall officials revealed at Belfast City Council’s monthly Planning Committee, held this week, that elected representatives would be checking out the site, which is facing an application to get rid of the car park and replace it with offices. The office block is being called “The Gateway Building”.
Lanyon Place Station was formerly Belfast Central Station, and alongside the old Great Victoria Street Station, was the busiest in Northern Ireland.
READ MORE: Havelock House social housing development passes final hurdle, despite “entire Donegall Pass being against it”
READ MORE: New £14m hotel approved for Ann Street will include pub and restaurant and is from same people behind The Merchant
The planning application involves the erection of an eight storey building comprising seven floors of grade A office accommodation, ground floor retail and business units. It involves 15 car parking spaces, cycle parking and plant areas, as well as public realm improvements including a dedicated drop-off area to front of the building.
The site is the 150 space surface level car park at lands to the east of Lanyon Place Station, Mays Meadow, and the applicant is named on the Planning Portal as Des Taggart, the Senior Property Development Manager at Translink.
Media outlets reported last month that a Translink survey revealed 80 percent of respondents were against the plan, and Stormont officials at the Department for Infrastructure also displayed reservations, stating the plans didn’t have enough detail.
Locals have expressed fears that with only 15 car spaces for an eight storey office block, the new workforce will use their residential areas as a car park.
Todd Architects say on their website: “Lanyon, a new office development designed for Translink, the company responsible for public transport in Northern Ireland, aims to set a new standard for green office buildings in the city.
“The 8 storey building contains 12,000 metres squared of office floor space. It sits on the site of an existing carpark that presently serves the adjacent Lanyon Place train station, with a bridge link connecting the offices and the station concourse.
“The building’s angular form and stepped massing, relates to the height and juxtaposition of neighbouring buildings. Its lightweight façade and engineered skin forms part of a low energy design strategy that is targeting net-zero.”
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter
#Councillors #check #site #unpopular #Translink #office #block #plan #Lanyon
