A largely vacant site in use as surface car parking. The site extends to approximately 1.2 acres and is bound by North Street, Gresham Street and Winetavern Street.
108 North Street / 1 Gresham Street is a three storey building designed by James Gamble (principle city architect at the City Surveyor’s Office). The building was built c.1908 as the Corporation Gas Showroom and remained in use until the 1980s when it was converted to a butcher’s shop that ceased trading in 2017. The building was B1 listed in April 2016 (HB26/50/321).
120 – 130 North Street was occupied by the Gresham Arcade. The Arcade was a three storey terrace of buildings built during the 1890s. The buildings were demolished in 2002.
140 North Street (at the corner with Winetavern Street) was occupied by the Elephant Buildings. This was a three storey building designed by Robert Watt for W. J. Maguire. The building was occupied by the Elephant Bar and then an off-licence before demolition in 2002.
The majority of the car park site was owned by the same private owner since the 1980s and Car Park Services Ltd have operated a car park on part of the site since at least 1988. The owner of the car park acquired adjacent vacant buildings at North Street in 2008. The buildings were demolished in 2009 and the car park was extended.
Osborne King were appointed fixed charge receiver of the site in March 2013 and placed it on the market in March 2015 with offers invited over £1.75m. The site was acquired by Bywater Capital (Winetavern) Ltd in February 2016.
A joint venture between Bywater Properties and Ashmour proposes to develop Smithfield Yard; a 167,400ft2 mixed-use development set around a central public space.
Bywater and Ashmour submitted an outline planning application (LA04/2018/2470/O) in October 2018 proposing mixed use buildings (3-9 storeys) comprising basement car parking, ground floor commercial units and office accommodation above. The development also proposes a new pedestrian link between Gresham Street and Winetavern Street and refurbishment of the listed building at the corner of Gresham Street and North Street. The application was approved in January 2020.
Bywater and Ashmour also submitted a full planning application (LA04/2018/2464/F) in October 2018 proposing the first phase of the development. The application proposes to alter, extend and change the use of the existing listed building to comprise ground floor cafe/restaurant and office accommodation above. The application was approved in January 2020.
Bywater & Ashmour submitted a planning application (LA04/2020/0325/F) in February 2020 proposing mixed use buildings ranging from 4 – 9 storeys in height comprising ground floor commercial units and office accommodation above. The application was approved in October 2020.
Bywater & Ashmour submitted a Reserved Matters application (LA04/2020/0865/RM) in May 2020 proposing mixed use buildings ranging from 3 – 5 storeys comprising ground floor commercial units and office accommodation above. The application was approved in November 2020.
Smithfield Yard is a proposed 167,400ft2 mixed-use development comprising four buildings set around The Yard; a central public space surrounded by ground floor cafe and retail units. The four buildings are:
- North, comprising 111,707ft2 of office accommodation at 1st – 8th floor and a 6,340ft2 commercial unit at ground floor.
- Gresham, comprising 32,742ft2 of office accommodation at 1st – 4th floor and a 4,747ft2 commercial unit at ground floor.
- Sawtooth, comprising 4,952ft2 of office accommodation at 1st – 2nd floor and a 3,240ft2 commercial unit at ground floor.
- Butcher’s, comprising 2,454ft2 of office accommodation at 1st – 2nd floor and a 1,222f2 commercial unit at ground floor.
Further information available from the official Smithfield Yard website: www.smithfieldyardbelfast.com.
