Northern Ireland investment house invites groups to 'take over' £20million student pop-up space

Northern Ireland investment house is giving community arts groups the chance to take over an exciting Belfast pop-up space for six months.

Elkstone is investing £20 million in a 156-room student accommodation development on Bradbury Place to open this summer and is calling on organisations to register their interest online.

Initial expressions of interest should be registered by March 29 and include no more than 350 words of what the organisation does, what its needs are, why acquiring this space on a temporary basis would help it and how it would plan to utilise the space.

Ciarán McIntyre, chief commercial officer at Elkstone Partners, said: “The Gallery at Bradbury Place will be a major addition to Belfast’s burgeoning arts sector, with this initiative offering a pop-up space of inclusion that will bring a unique offering of art and broader creative influence.

“At Elkstone, we are committed to delivering high-quality alternative investment projects that work for and with local communities.

“We are excited to see submissions from local groups to unlock the creative potential of the space and showcase the broad creative talent we have right here in Northern Ireland.

“Our latest scheme includes a ground floor retail space of 4,000 sq.ft, and we want this to be available to the community.

“We look forward to working in partnership with the organisation that is selected to operate the space and will be on hand to provide whatever support is required to help ensure maximum value is delivered for the local community.”

With offices in Belfast, Dublin, Galway and Cork, Elkstone has a rich pedigree in purpose-built student accommodation, having been involved in the planning, construction and operation of more than 2,000 beds across the UK and Ireland.

Mr McIntyre added: “We want to make it as easy as possible at this initial stage for organisations to express an interest in becoming the operator, before drawing up a shortlist and engaging in more detail with them before final selection.

“We are looking forward to engaging with a wide range of stakeholders about this exciting project that we believe will benefit this area of Belfast significantly.”