A proposed residential development by Olympian Homes.
The site currently comprises a three storey 59,000ft2 building with office and media production space.
The section of Havelock House fronting Ormeau Road was built as part of a hemstitching warehouse in the late 1800s. During WW2 the building was converted to sleeping accommodation for troops.
Ulster Television acquired the building for £17,000 and opened a studio in 1959 (UTV’s first broadcast was on 31st October 1959). A second studio was opened in the building in 1962.
Work commenced during 1992 to build a three storey extension designed by McAlister Armstrong Architects. The extension opened on 4th June 1993; the same day that Ulster Television rebranded to UTV.
Areas of Havelock House, including the former Central Technical Area and Studio 3, were converted / refurbished in January 2003 to accommodate UTV Internet which relocated from Bruce Street in March 2003. Studio 1 and associated post production facilities received a £250,000 refurbishment during 2006 to accommodate the station’s news and current affairs programmes.
ITV plc acquired UTV in February 2016 and in May 2017 announced a relocation to the top floor of City Quays 2. The broadcaster began relocating from Havelock House during spring 2018 and will begin full operations from City Quays 2 by June 2018.
Savills placed Havelock House on the market in April 2018 with a guide price of £3.5m. The full site extends to 1.78 acres.
Olympian Homes acquired the site and propose to develop a Build-to-Rent residential building.
Locka Ltd and Turley submitted a planning application (LA04/2020/0067/F) in December 2019 proposing to demolish the existing building and develop a residential building comprising 270no. apartments. The application was presented to the November 2020 Belfast Planning Committee with a recommendation to approve. On a vote, members of the Committee voted to refuse the application. The application was refused planning permission on 19th November 2020.
The applicant submitted an appeal to the Planning Appeals Commission (PAC) in late November 2020. The PAC dismissed the appeal in October 2021 (ref: 2020/A0107).
