Defence Online

Plans to demolish a Belfast city centre property and build a seven-storey mixed-use scheme in its place have been submitted.The application to tear down 22-24 Berry Street states the building is vacant.Built in its place would be seven storey property comprising retail space and offices.CGI images submitted as part of the application show a café located on the ground floor, although it is unclear if this would be the final use.The office would cover about 3,580 sq ft while 592 sq ft would be dedicated to the retail unit.The proposals come in the same month as a report revealed that the Belfast office market is in a healthy condition and enjoyed good activity in the first half of the year.Lambert Smith Hampton’s Q2 National Office Pulse study showed a total take up of 235,000 sq ft for the first six months of the year, with highlights including lettings to Liberty IT, Citi, EY, BRS Golf and PuppetLabs.Greg Henry, associate director of agency at Lambert Smith Hampton, said he is expecting the high levels of activity in Belfast to continue for the remainder of 2016 and into 2017, with new stock and refurbishment projects coming to completion.