Full steam ahead for Watkin Jones’ Titanic Quarter plans

Watkin Jones, in partnership with Lacuna Developments, has received planning approval for Student Village, its purpose-built student accommodation scheme in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter.  The five-acre vacant brownfield site will provide 1,007 student beds split across four buildings ranging from five to nine storeys. The approved plans also include 385,000 sq ft of external floorspace, a café, cycle storage and communal facilities, including landscaped courtyards. George Dyer, group investment director at Watkin Jones, said: “This scheme will help address the growing need for purpose-built student accommodation in Belfast while supporting a sustainable and safe community for living, working and leisure. “The Student Village is the second proposed investment in Titanic Quarter by the joint venture, having forward sold the Loft Lines, a BTR development, to Legal & General and Clanmil Housing last year. Through both projects we have collaborated closely with Titanic Quarter Limited and Belfast Harbour Commissioners, delivering part of its longer-term vision for Queen’s Island, regenerating a former industrial area into a sustainable place to live, study and play.” Anthony Best, managing director at Lacuna Developments, added:“We believe that our Titanic Quarter Student Village offers students and academics from all institutions across the city a fresh choice for managed accommodation, in an exciting area of the city. “We are responding to the very real demand from all our universities and higher education colleges for managed student accommodation. Belfast is a great city with a growing knowledge economy that needs students and graduates living here to be successful.” Watkin Jones and Lacuna filed the plans to Belfast City Council in May. Image from Watkin Jones