Vacant since 2000 and dating from 1769, the heritage building is located on the corner of North Street and Waring Street.<\/p>\n
The area has been run down and dilapidated as it awaits on Castlebrooke to make any progress with its much heralded \u2018Tribeca\u2019 transformation of the area.<\/p>\n
However, no work has yet been done on the 2016 plan for a \u00a3500m urban regeneration scheme on a 12 acre site located beside St Anne\u2019s Cathedral bounded by Royal Avenue, Donegall Street, Lower Garfield Street and Rosemary Street.<\/p>\n
With little public confidence in Castlebrooke\u2019s ability to take the project forward, the Council has stepped in on several occasions.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/9637c48b-9174-478d-8091-84af48076781.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The Assembly Rooms in Belfast city centre<\/p>\n
Alliance councillor Michael Long, who jointly put forward an initial proposal for Belfast City Council to buy the Grade B1 listed Assembly Rooms building in the city centre, welcomed the ratification of the decision to officially put a bid in to purchase the space.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThis has been a long time coming now, and after years spent campaigning to see this done, I\u2019m delighted to see the bid finally going ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a duty to protect, cherish, and maintain our historic cultural institutions. The Assembly Rooms building is a key landmark representing the legacy of Belfast\u2019s past, but now, with restoration to bring it back into public use, it has the opportunity to play its own part in shaping the future of the city and its cultural heritage for generations to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is incredibly exciting progress that we look forward to following as things develop.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Castlebrooke spokesperson said: \u2018\u2019We have been working collaboratively with Belfast City Council for some time to advance the regeneration of the North St\/ Donegall Street area and we are very glad to see the decision to purchase the Assembly Rooms endorsed by Council this evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been frustrated that market conditions have prevented us delivering our previous schemes for this historically important part of the city but we are now preparing new plans in collaboration with the city council which embrace the historic significance of the Assembly rooms.<\/p>\n
“We will be consulting widely on these new proposals in the very near future.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the Assembly Rooms, plans to establish a slave trading company were thwarted in 1786.<\/p>\n
Six years later in 1792, the Belfast Harp Festival was held, it was also where Henry Joy McCracken, a prominent republican and co-founder of the Society of United Irishmen, was sentenced to death in 1798.<\/p>\n
Chair of Belfast City Council\u2019s Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, councillor Natasha Brennan, branded acquisition of the structure \u201csignificant\u201d in council efforts to \u201cbreathe new life and vibrancy into the Cathedral Quarter\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlong with our work on the nearby Belfast Stories, which will be a visitor attraction, public space and creative hub, integrating the restoration of the unique 1930s Art Deco former Bank of Ireland building when it opens in 2030, we\u2019re investing in parts of our city centre,\u201d said the councillor.<\/p>\n
\u201c[This will] have great historic character to ensure that these wonderful heritage assets are given life, purpose and relevance for generations to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re continuing to focus on revitalising and enhancing our city centre because it\u2019s the beating heart of Belfast.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to the renowned 18th century site, the council is also set to purchase Donegall Street carpark, number five to nine North Street, and Braddell\u2019s Building on 11 North Street.<\/p>\n
Following engagement with councillors and stakeholders, the council itself will bring future proposals forward to conserve the Assembly Rooms and Braddell\u2019s Building. <\/p>\n
Other successful acquisitions of buildings by the council include the former Tesco building on Royal Avenue, another listed building.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s purchase by the council lead to it becoming a hub for arts and culture. Work is currently underway for its long-term use, with Peace Plus funding having been confirmed for the creation of a LGBTQ+ hub on the first floor.<\/p>\n
Other success stories from the Vacant to Vibrant scheme include the opening of Beau on Warehouse Lane, and ArtsEkta\u2019s new Olive Tree House on Fountain Street.<\/p>\n
Almost half of the 49 buildings involved in the Vacant to Vibrant scheme have been renowned heritage buildings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The derelict 18th century building, owned at present by Castlebrooke Investments, is being bought over by the council…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[2378,5813,108813,1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-390327","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-belfast","9":"tag-belfast-city-council","10":"tag-gabrielle-swan","11":"tag-northern-ireland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115131392081231338","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}