Planning permission has been approved to develop a new 100,000 sq ft office building in a £24.7m deal with McAleer and Rushe.

Belfast City Council has agreed to acquire Clarendon House on Adelaide Street.

The scheme, designed by Todd Architects, received planning permission at the council's Planning Committee.

It will support several hundred jobs during construction. It will be funded at no cost to the ratepayer by efficiencies achieved from rationalising the council's existing office estate, and selling a number of surplus redundant buildings.

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Declan Boyle, Chairman of the council's Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, said: "We are delighted to be working on this development in partnership with McAleer & Rushe. This is further significant investment in the city centre by Belfast City Council, following on from our £150 million investment programme which was launched in 2012.

"It is part of our approach to maximise efficiencies by clustering our staff and services within close proximity. The site is close to our existing buildings at City Hall and the Cecil Ward Building on Linenhall Street. The building will provide us with 100,000 sq ft of modern, flexible accommodation.

"We have already started the process of centralising our customer-facing services within the Cecil Ward Building where the new Belfast Planning Service and the Consumer Advice Centre are now located, with Cemetery Services also being moved to the site from City Hall later this year."

(CD/JP)