News / 28th April 2025
Demolition works for Fanum and Norwood House redevelopment have commenced
Enabling works for demolition of Fanum House have commenced today. The infamous building will make way for a new £55m purpose built student accommodation block containing 560 units. Fanum House was formerly the Belfast headquarters for newspapers and media including the Irish Times, RTE and Sky, with its rooftop the setting for many TV reports during the Troubles, most memorably by RTE on Bloody Friday back in 1972.
The demolition works will also include Norwood House and are anticipated to last into Autumn 2025. Footways directly adjacent to the demolition site, e.g. northern side of Ventry Street and part of the Eastern side of Great Victoria Street, will be blocked during the duration of the works. Alternative pedestrian routes will be signposted.
Linen Quarter BID has ‘ Great Expectations’ for Great Victoria Street and believes the redevelopment of the site will help to reactivate the lower end of the street, which has seen dereliction creeping in since the decline of the Golden Mile since the 1990s, but which we have helped support a return to vibrancy too since extending the BID to this part of the district in 2023, through a series of streetscape interventions.
