The first tenant has signed up to Belfast’s Custom House ahead of the iconic building’s transformation into new office accommodation.
Marketing and tech firm Velocity Worldwide has taken space on the second floor from BE Offices, the company which will manage the site once the £6 million redevelopment is completed.
It signed a joint venture with the property’s owner Straidorn Properties - headed by Neil McKibbon – in April and will run Custom House as flexible office space when it opens later this year.
The building, which is more than 150 years old and was designed by Sir Charles Lanyon, was previously occupied by HMRC but will be transformed as part of the redevelopment and include wellness pods, a gym and a podcast room.
“From the minute we stepped into Custom House we felt that this was the kind of space our staff would love to work in,” Enda McShane, Velocity Worldwide’s CEO, said. “This is a signature building in Belfast with a long and rich history, it is our intention to now develop the future of Velocity from an office that will provide a vast array of benefits and services for our valued team members, from barista bar to wellness pods to a free gym, why would anyone want to work from home?”
Neil McKibbin, Director of Straidorn Properties welcomed the building’s first tenant.
“It is fantastic to see the first letting in Custom House coming from an indigenous company with a global reach,” he said. “From first viewing it was apparent that the team at Velocity recognised that the qualities exhibited by the new offering at Custom House supported their ambition to provide the best possible working environment for their growing business.”
