North Street Arcade is set to return as part of the £500m redevelopment of Belfast's Cathedral Quarter.

It comes as Castlebrooke Investments revealed a number of changes to its proposed planning application for 'Tribeca Belfast'.

The North Street Arcade has been derelict since a 2004 that destroyed all of the business units inside.

Despite the fire the basic structure of the units remain intact and it has now been proposed that it be brought back into use in a new format with space designed for independent retailers.

Read More

A voluntary ten week public consultation has also been announced in relation to the 'Tribeca Belfast' project ahead of the submission of the proposal in Autumn 2019.

Castlebrooke Investments has announced that award-winning architectural design firm Squire & Partners has been appointed to work on the amended proposals alongside the Belfast-based Consarc Design Group.

Among the new proposals is the reduction in height of the Grade A office block on the corner of Rosemary Street and North Street from 27 storeys to 10 storeys.

There is also an increased allowance for green spaces, courtyards and residential space.

After a review Castlebrooke have decided that a "greater number of historic streetscape on original buildings in the area can also be retained".

Chief Executive of Castlebrooke Investments Neil Young said that the group had listened to "feedback from the city".

"We will continue to listen and we have launched a voluntary public consultation process into these planned changes ahead of the submission of our application," he said.

"Our community exhibition will provide an opportunity for anyone interested to see the new plans and we will be revealing more information about this in the coming weeks."

Following the announcement of the amended plans representatives of the Save the Cathedral Quarter Campaign group met with Castlebrooke Investments and Squire & Partners.

Acting Chair Agustina Martire said that the group were "cautiously optimistic that both are listening and some real progress is being made."

"Both Castlebrooke and their new architects have responded positively to us in terms of the local economy, housing, heritage, public space and accessibility, however sufficient arts and culture provision within the proposed redevelopment remains a real concern," Ms Martire said.

Last November 'Tribeca Belfast' was announced as the name for its 12-acre retail and office regeneration project beside St Anne's Cathedral.

Castlebrooke Investments was criticised for the choice of name with suggestions it didn't represent the real Belfast.

TriBeCa is a trendy neighbourhood in Lower Manhattan, which is an abbreviation of 'triangle below the canal'. It is one of the most expensive places to live in Manhattan.

The scheme, which has already been given the green light for its first phase, will see the creation of 1,500,00 sq ft of residential space, office units as well as retail and hospitality elements.

The project formerly known as Royal Exchange is Belfast's single largest regeneration scheme. It borders Royal Avenue, Donegall Street, Lower Garfield Street and Rosemary Street.

Belfast Telegraph