AddThis SmartLayers

Regional daily’s office goes on the market for £6m

A regional daily’s office has been put up for sale with an asking price of £6m.

The Belfast Telegraph’s historic base on Royal Avenue in the city has been put on the market and could be turned into a boutique hotel.

HTFP reported in August that the Telegraph was set to move from its six-storey offices with the loss of up to 89 printing jobs and the relocation of editorial staff to new premises in Belfast.

Now the building has gone up for sale by agents Lisney as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to purchase the site, which is next to the new University of Ulster campus.

The property details for the Belfast Telegraph show how it could be developed.

The property details for the Belfast Telegraph show how it could be developed.

Potential uses for the one-acre site include a boutique hotel, offices and students homes, with ground floor retail and restaurant uses.

The Telegraph has been based at its current building for around 130 years and its iconic clock is set to be retained as part of a new development.

The agents for the building have proposed that the building could be turned into a 45-room hotel, restaurant, coffee shop and offices, along with two retail units, 414-bed student housing, landscaped courtyards and car parking.

Another development option is to add an extra 24 rooms to the hotel but include extra offices instead of the student housing.

The property brochure states: “The significance of the site on which the building is constructed cannot be underestimated given its proximity to the York Street Campus of the University of Ulster and that it forms part of the Northside Urban Village Regeneration Framework.”

The Belfast Telegraph moved to the building in June 1886, which was designed by architect Henry Seaver and cost £7,800 to build.

A statement issued by the paper’s publishers Independent News and Media during the summer said its printing plant would close by next June and around 200 printing jobs would be transfered to its lower-cost operations centre in Newry.

It added the company “remains committed” to its Belfast publishing business.

One comment

You can follow all replies to this entry through the comments feed.
  • October 8, 2015 at 11:41 pm
    Permalink

    Telegraph went down the toilet when it was taken over by Independent Newspapers. It was a poor deal all round, taken at a time when Tony O’Reilly had lost the Midas touch.

    Report this comment

    Like this comment(3)