Belfast is about to hit record £2bn investment mark

Belfast City Council is on target to double its original investment target of £1bn in regeneration and property development in the city.

Back in 2016, Belfast City Council's chief executive Suzanne Wylie announced the city's ambitious goal of attracting £1 billion of investment in regeneration and commercial property development to Belfast. We've seen a flurry of development in the city centre since then, with new hotels opening up and some major new builds being completed.

Northern Ireland's tech firms have benefitted heavily from investment in Belfast, with dozens of disused and derelict buildings being rennovated and opened as grade A office space over the past three years. We've also seen major investments in new buildings for Allstate, and Kainos recently bought the Dublin Road Moviehouse building to develop into its new Belfast headquarters.

Suzanne Wylie addressed a crowd this week at the MIPIM 2019 Wrap Up event to announce that the city is now on course to double that £1bn investment target, with around £2bn of investment now complete, in progress, or in the planning stages. "This £2billion investment figure bears testament to all that our city has to offer. Since the Millennium, we’ve been saying that Belfast is a city on the rise and, today, it’s clear to see how far we’ve progressed and how much regeneration is still taking place. Just look at the number of cranes on the skyline again," said Wylie.

This announcement follows the largest single investment of over £850m recently in the Belfast Region City Deal, a co-investment plan that will see at least £850m invested in 22 integrated projects centred around our digital innovation capabilities, boosting tourism, and major infrastructure improvements. The project involes £350m contributed by the UK treasury, £350m from the NI Executive, £100m from local councils, and more from the universities and private industry.