Lisburn Square sale highlights NI property activity

Lisburn Square has been sold for £2 million ahead of a predicted surge in Northern Ireland’s commercial property sector.

The retail plaza was built in 2001 at a cost of £23m, but some 50 per cent of the square’s units are currently vacant as the area struggles to recover from the recent recession.

New owner Marcol has snapped up the square at a fraction of the original cost, saying it is planning to develop restaurants and cafés in the area.

The purchase has come at a good time according to property consultancy group CBRE Northern Ireland, who predict the pace of local commercial property activity is to surge in the second half of this year.

CBRE said some £142.5 million has already been invested in the Northern Ireland market in the first half of this year.

According to their Bi-Monthly Research Report, transactions worth £90 million are still in the legal stages and several significant assets are currently being prepared for sale.

Brian Lavery, managing director of CBRE Belfast, said: “The report has reinforced that NI’s position in commercial property for 2015 remains strong and that it will only improve with the promising second half of the year.

“With a number of transactions currently being finalised or in legals, the focus for the coming months is likely to be on bringing these to completion and preparations for the sales campaigns that will be launched this autumn.”