Padel centre, indoor golf course and £36m office block – the developments changing the face of Belfast
2026 has seen big applications for housing estates, leisure, and an office tower
09:22, 01 Apr 2026
Artist’s impression of the approved plan for an office building beside Lanyon Place Station
This year has seen many planning projects approved by Belfast City Council – and we are only a little over three months in.
Those that have received the green light will change the skyline of the city, connect people close to the Belfast Hills, will help ease some of the housing strain, but also will also stoke further the growing controversy over how property owners use houses in residential areas.
From social housing to office blocks, from garden centres being converted into modish new sports centres and banking call centres being converted to health units, here are 10 of the most eye-catching planning approvals made in the city so far this year.
New walking trails
In January, new walking trails were approved in West Belfast linking different communities close to the Belfast Hills. Elected representatives agreed a proposed development of new walking trails linking the Black Mountain Shared Space Project building on the Ballygomartin Road with the Upper Whiterock Road and Moyard Parade.
There will be new gated accesses, fencing, seated areas, information signage, and landscaping. The work is on public land, by Belfast City Council.
The development is designed to provide access to the Belfast Hills for local communities and link with the wider path network in the hills. It will also improve the network of green infrastructure within the council area and improve access to open space for residents and visitors. The proposed development includes three pedestrian access points at Ballygomartin Shared space, Moyard Parade and Whiterock Road.
CGI image of Apollo Road leisure complex
Family entertainment complex – with indoor golf course and VR zone
Also in January a new family entertainment leisure complex was approved for a business park in South Belfast, despite being opposed robustly by a neighbouring business over a number of issues including parking. Elected representatives approved for the second time an application for change of use from office space and storage at Adelaide Business Centre, 2-6 Apollo Road, Belfast, BT12.
The application was returned to the Planning Committee due to procedure resulting from objections from Agnew’s Trade Centre, a used car dealership beside the development site. Representatives from Agnews argued the plan would block access to business on their site.
The site will be developed into a leisure complex with bowling alleys, a restaurant, an indoor golf course, a children’s soft play area, a VR zone, amusements and on-site parking. The applicant is Paddy Simpson, the Barley Fields, Derry.
Site of the the approved social housing development, Whiterock Road
New social housing development
In February a 77 unit social housing development was approved for Whiterock Road, West Belfast. Elected members unanimously approved a mix of 26 semi-detached houses and 51 apartments, as well as a new children’s centre, new car parking, a new substation, landscaping, open space and access at the former Belfast Metropolitan College Campus, Whiterock Road, Belfast.
The site is a former school and college, which consisted of two buildings, one containing the Whiterock Children’s Centre on the eastern portion of the site and the other building is a boxing club on the western portion. The old building is currently being demolished.
The Santander building at May’s Meadow by Google Maps
Transitional Care Unit
Also in February, a former banking call centre close to the city centre was given the green light to become a Transitional Care Unit. Councillors unanimously approved an application for the proposed change of use from an office to a short term Transitional Care Unit, at Santander House, 1 Mays Meadow, Belfast, close to the Albert Bridge. The Santander building was originally built in the late 1990’s for Abbey National.
The unit will comprise 73 ensuite beds, rehabilitation suites and treatment rooms, a laboratory, consulting rooms, a cafe, two external terraces and ancillary staff and storage rooms. The development will include an ambulance drop-off bay, the replacement of existing windows, and other associated site and access works. The applicants are Life Works Developments Ltd, Clare Road, Gilford BT63.
The site of the short term let application on Albertbridge Road, before the restaurant was demolished, on Google Maps
Short-term let apartment block
February also saw controversy at the City Hall Planning Committee, when the DUP failed to stop a new short-term let apartment block in East Belfast getting approval, despite locals stating the development was “not wanted by the community.”
Elected representatives at the February meeting of the Belfast City Council Planning Committee, on a majority vote, approved an application for the erection of a four-storey building to create 29 short-term let accommodation units at 341-345 Albertbridge Road, Belfast, BT5. The developer is ALMCC (NI) Limited, Shore Road, Holywood.
A vote on a DUP proposal to refuse the application saw seven votes in favour from the DUP and the UUP and 12 against from the other parties, and so it was approved. The application received 37 objections since it first went to the council last December. Despite this none of the relevant statutory bodies objected and the council’s Planning team recommended the application for approval.
Despite the growing public mood against the proliferation of short-term let accommodation, developers who have had their applications refused at the council’s Planning Committee are increasingly appealing the decisions, with significant levels of success. As a result council officers are advising councillors to show rigorous policy-related and legal reasoning when objecting to applications they have recommended for approval.
Eight-storey office building
In March a £36 million plan by a Translink-related company to develop an eight storey office building at the Lanyon Place Station car park site was approved. Councillors unanimously approved the building, comprising seven floors of grade A office accommodation, and ground floor retail and business units, on the surface level car park at lands to the east of Lanyon Place Station, Mays Meadow, BT1.
While the plan means the end of the station car park, the application involves 15 car parking spaces for the new building, with new cycle parking and plant areas. It involves public realm improvements, including a dedicated drop-off area to the front of the proposed building. The applicant name and address is Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, 22 Great Victoria Street.
While the council received no third party objections after neighbour notification, last year there were reports from some media outlets that a survey had revealed 80 percent of respondents were against the Translink plan. The reports said Stormont officials at the Department for Infrastructure also expressed reservations, saying the plans didn’t have enough detail.
Locals reportedly expressed fears that with only 15 car spaces for an eight storey office block, the new workforce would use their residential area as a car park. Council planning officers nonetheless recommended the application for approval.
A fire damaged building at the old Cabin Hill site, where a new residential development has been approved
Two residential developments in East Belfast
Also in March elected representatives gave the green light to two new residential developments in East Belfast, on the sites of a former school and masonic lodge. Councillors unanimously approved 35 social housing units for over 55’s in two blocks on land at 45 Park Avenue, on the site of the former Mount Masonic Hall, which was recently demolished. They also approved 53 residential units, that is 43 houses and 10 apartments, on land at the former Cabin Hill site on the Upper Newtownards Road. The decision on Cabin Hill was supposed to be heard the month before, but was pushed back after a fire at a building on the site.
Temporary mobile classroom village
At the same Planning Committee meeting, elected representatives unanimously approved the erection of a temporary mobile classroom village to facilitate the future refurbishment and extension of the existing Harberton North Special School, at 29a Fortwilliam Park, Belfast BT15. The existing school comprises a current enrolment of 222 pupils with 30 full time teachers and 86 support staff.
The plan involves three two-storey blocks of temporary classroom accommodation, temporary hard play areas, temporary staff and visitor parking areas, and will involve tree-removal and landscaping. The applicant is the Education Authority.
The site of a planned Padel Centre at Redcar Street, East Belfast
Indoor padel centre
Also in March, an East Belfast former garden supply warehouse got the green light to be converted for a new padel centre by a Dublin company, despite the site recently having been approved for an apartment block. Elected representatives unanimously approved a proposed change of use of a vacant warehouse to an indoor padel court facility at Decco Ltd, 1 to 5 Redcar Street, Belfast, BT6, between the Castlereagh and Woodstock Roads.
The plan includes a cafe, changing rooms, a gym, Pickleball courts and other ancillary site development works. The applicant is House of Padel, Old Belgard Road, Cookstown Industrial Estate, Dublin. There is an extant approval on the site for the demolition of the existing building and erection of 65 apartments, including 20 percent social housing, which was approved in February 2023.
The application site comprises a large, two-storey, vacant commercial building which extends across most of the site, with the remainder used for parking. The site is beside Euston Street Primary School. There were four local objectors.
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