The Conway Group is planning to bring a major new food store to its home town for the first time. The proposed development has an investment value of £17M and could create over 200 jobs during construction and on completion.

Merit Investment and Properties has submitted a full planning application for the development, which would be located on an 13 acre site on the Moneymore Road, within the town’s development limit, and will include a modern stand alone 69,000 sq ft food store, a six pump petrol filling station, car parking for 400 cars, and an on site car wash facility. Construction is expected to take one year to complete on receipt of planning approval.

As part of the proposed plans, Merit will fund the creation of a new roundabout at the junction of the A31 Moneymore Road and Coolshinney Road in order to improve access and provide a traffic management and calming solution on the main southern approach to the town, an area close to local schools. The plans also connect to the existing shared pedestrian and cycle network, ensuring that the proposed store is accessible by foot or bicycle, as well as cars.

Jarlath Conway, Director at Conway Group said, “Magherafelt currently has no representation from any of the main food store operators and a lot of food and grocery sales are leaking to nearby towns as shoppers travel to Cookstown and Ballymena for big name food retailers. Therefore this proposed food store will greatly enhance the town’s retail offering and should encourage further investment.

“As a local company we are keen to promote local schemes such as this which will make Magherafelt an attractive retail destination and complement the existing retail offering in the town centre and local shopping centre. We are in discussions with a number of major food operators who are keen to bring their brands to the area, and we expect to make further announcements later this year.”

Merit is working with Architects and Planning Consultants, Ostick & Williams, Belfast and Roads Consultant, RPS Group

The Financial Times has relocated to new state of the art offices at one of Belfast’s newest city centre office schemes – Centrepoint.

The Financial Times have taken the entirety of the 6th floor within the prestigious building which is also the Belfast location of other high profile tenants RTE and Irish Nationwide Building Society.

“From the minute the F.T. team viewed the building they were so impressed with the building, its location and outlook it was hard for them to go anywhere else” commented Robert Toland of DTZ McCombe Pierce LLP, the joint letting agent.

Des Taggart of the Conway Group said “Conway Group are delighted to welcome another high profile tenant to the Centrepoint Building – the aim at Centrepoint was to create and offer Grade A office accommodation to attract tenants of the calibre of The Financial Times, RTE and Irish Nationwide – we are succeeding in that goal.”

Centrepoint, a 36,000 sq ft 10 storey office building is situated in the heart of Belfast’s prime business district at the highly prominent junction of Bedford Street with Ormeau Avenue.

The development is now completed and is proving to be very popular in the Belfast office market.

We are currently updating our website, and its content management system. This may mean that some pages are temporarily unavailable. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Planning sought for new Premier Inn hotel and family restaurant –
newry-hotel.jpg

Plans for a proposed 120 bed Premier Inn hotel and 200 seater family restaurant in the centre of Newry were submitted for planning approval, it was revealed today.
A planning application has been submitted by Merit Investment and Properties, part of the Conway Group, for the first phase of a comprehensive mixed used regeneration scheme on the former ATS Garage site at Downshire Road, Newry.

The application represents a private sector investment value of £12 million and could be completed within eighteen months of receiving planning approval. The proposed scheme, which also includes plans for a 22,000 square foot landmark office accommodation, represents the first phase of a larger mixed use redevelopment scheme at this prestigious brownfield city centre location adjacent to the Newry River.
Jarlath Conway, Director at the Conway Group, said: “We have worked with Whitbread on the development of Lisburn’s first ever hotel which is set to open in September, in addition to other hotel opportunities throughout the country, and are therefore very familiar with the type of scheme, format and location which has worked successfully for them. We are confident that the proposed plans for the hotel and restaurant in Newry offers a great opportunity for the local area in terms of bringing a high quality hotel operator to the area which will provide local jobs and a boost to the local economy and tourism industry.�?
Newry and Mourne District Council’s Mayor, John Feehan, has welcomed the proposed £12m investment, which will create up to 80 new full and part-time jobs when built, in addition to much needed construction jobs during the building phase:

“The City of Newry is ripe for this level of investment and development and the fact that a major UK hotel chain is keen to invest in this area illustrates how far Newry has progressed in recent years. A new hotel of this standard will represent a significant investment in the local economy, and the local jobs which would be created are also very welcome.�?
Mark Anderson, Commercial & Property Director at Whitbread, owners of Premier Inn, added: “Premier Inn is keen to continue investing in Northern Ireland and introduce hotels that offer excellent value for money in key towns and cities across the region. Newry provides a very attractive opportunity for Premier Inn to develop hospitality accommodation for both business and tourism and we are fully committed to this proposed new site.�?
Belfast-based Planning Consultancy, TSA Planning, is the planning agent for the scheme which has been prepared by JNP Architects.

Premier Inn currently has four hotels operating in Northern Ireland with a fifth, constructed by Conway Group due to open in September, as Lisburn’s first Hotel.

Merit Investments and Properties has unveiled plans for a £5m hotel and restaurant complex in the Carryduff area, which will create up to 60 jobs.

A detailed planning application for a 60-bedroom hotel and 200-seat restaurant beside the Brackenvale complex on the Saintfield Road has been submitted. The hotel will be operated by Whitbread PLC under the Premier Inn Brand

This project follows on from the construction of a similar hotel for Whitbread in Lisburn which Conway Group are nearing completion off.

See this link for the Belfast Telegraph report on this Project

Conway Group and the NI based retail operator Henderson Group have today announced their agreement for the leasing by Henderson of the Conway Groups award winning Spar retail and forecourt outlets at Brackenvale, Saintfield Road Belfast and Magherafelt Road, Moneymore and their Vivo convenience store in Magherafelt.

This announcement comes as great news for both Conway Groups retail division, Merit Retail and Henderson Group.

Henderson Group owns and operates 70 stores, and supplies almost 400 throughout the province. A spokesperson explained: “We are delighted to confirm that these three prime retail sites will now be operating under the Henderson Group, Merit Retail have operated these sites to a first-class standard for many years, each serving a vital role in the communities. We look forward to continuing the model of excellence that has been set. Three extremely strong businesses, this deal comes as great news for our business.”

Merit Retail added they have worked tirelessly to build their businesses to the levels of success they are today and are delighted the Henderson Group, who have been involved in all three businesses since inception, have taken this opportunity to take over these three businesses at this time.

Both parties confirmed that current staff will be retained at each site. Merit Retail would also take this opportunity to thank all employees and customers for their loyalty and support over the years.

The Irish State Broadcaster RTE have moved their Belfast Offices and Studios to the Centrepoint Building.
Occuping the 8th and 9th Floors of the prestigious new devlopment, the state of the art facilites were offically opened by Northern Irelands First and Deptuty First Mininster with the Irish Taoseach Mr Brian Cowan in attendance.

As part of their continued acquisition programme, Conway Group have acquired a prime restaurant investment in Manchester.

The property at 92-96 Deansgate occupies a highly prominent location at the junction of Deansgate and St Mary Street in the heart of Manchester City Centre. Deansgate is considered Manchesters prime leisure location, with occupiers including; Café Rouge, The Living Room, Label, La Tasca, Weatherspoons and The Goucho Grill, in the immediate area.
In addition the property is located adjacent to House of Fraser (arguably Manchesters premier department store) and in close proximity to the prime retailing areas of King Street and St Annes Square.

Comprising over 6,800 sq ft of accommodation arranged over basement ground and four upper floors, the entire premises are let to Bella Italia Restaurant Ltd.

Irish Nationwide Building Society is re-locating to offices in Centrepoint. The financial institution is taking one of the development’s ten floors as its new Northern Ireland base. The deal represents a new headline rent of £15 per sq ft for Belfast reinforcing the confidence in the Centrepoint scheme.

Gary McCollum, Manager, UK Operations at Irish Nationwide, said: “Centrepoint provides an excellent prime city centre location in the heart of Belfast’s business district so it was an ideal choice for us. The move will allow us to further concentrate on the Northern Ireland market and continue to grow our commercial banking business.”

Speaking on behalf of the Conway Group, Des Taggart said, “The commercial property market in Northern Ireland remains buoyant and Belfast City Centre has been undergoing a vigorous regeneration in recent times. With projects such as Victoria Square recently complete and an increase in city centre living, tourism and retail we are confident this development will be a huge success.�?
William Stewart, Associate Director for joint agents, Whelan, agrees: “Centrepoint provides the right location and quality of office space required by corporate occupiers and we are in discussions with a range of blue chip companies from the financial, media and professional service sectors.�?

The high quality design includes an imposing glass and natural stone frontage and also features a unique external glass elevator which offers panoramic views across the city centre.

Conway Group have recently acquired a prime retail investment in South-West London.

The property is located in East Sheen, an affluent suburb of the Borough of Richmond –upon-Thames.

Occupying a prominent position on the main shopping thoroughfare of Upper Richmond Road West, the current occupiers of the scheme are Superdrug, WH Smith, and Cargo, totalling nearly 14,000 sqft of retail and ancillaryaccomodation.