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Cathedral Quarter Episode Three:
The Laganside Years

The Laganside Corporation was a non-departmental public body formed by the Laganside Development (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 with the goal of regenerating large sections of land in Belfast, Northern Ireland adjacent to the River Lagan.

Laganside Corporation were responsible for the regeneration of a number of areas including the Lagan weir, the Odyssey development and the redevelopment of the old Belfast Gasworks site with Belfast City Council involvement.

In 1998 their brief was extended to include the commercial area which lies just north of Castle Place in Belfast and what was to become Cathedral Quarter.

Cathedral Quarter was a 30-acre site with over 20 listed buildings and the oldest part of Belfast. It was designated as a conservation area.

In the 18th Century the Cathedral Quarter was a flourishing financial district where many of the leading merchants of the day operated. Ulster Bank and Northern Bank both had their headquarters located there. Leading companies of the day from Old Bushmills, Bass, Radcliff and Gretton Ltd to woollen merchants like H Mack & Company, or Young & Anderson, were just a few of the firms doing business in the area.

Laganside Corporation put forward ambitious plans to regenerate the area and this piece is their story of the redevelopment of Cathedral Quarter.

Laganside Corporation was wound up in 2007.

cathedral quarter