Scope
Reference
P-0406
Description
The Housing Executive is seeking to appoint a developer to deliver its vision for a residential-led, regeneration scheme on a two-acre site at Hope Street, Belfast. This opportunity therefore relates to the sale and development of that site in accordance with the Housing Executive's requirements, as set out in the procurement documentation.
Hope Street is a strategically important city centre development site owned by the Housing Executive in an area that is benefitting from significant long term investment with the completion of the new Belfast Grand Central Station and the commencement of the Weavers Cross mixed-use regeneration scheme on surrounding land (about Weavers Cross).
The development opportunity at Hope Street is fundamentally aligned with 'the Belfast Agenda', Belfast City Council's first Community Plan (Belfast Agenda) to promote inner city living with a renewed focus on delivering city centre accommodation and supporting a vibrant, liveable city centre. The area surrounding Hope Street currently comprises a mix of commercial, residential and leisure uses, and it is in close proximity to the city's two main hospitals and universities. Hope Street is a gateway site to South Belfast and beyond. It is located close to businesses across IT, pharmaceutical and consultancy sectors and is adjacent to the residential community of Sandy Row. The transformation of Hope Street has the potential to enhance the connectivity between the local residential community of Sandy Row and the city centre economy by creating strong links through the site to surrounding areas that are animated by vibrant, safe, green open spaces and light commercial activity.
The Housing Executive invites responses from developers who are interested in delivering high quality proposals that meet the Housing Executive's Vision and Objectives for a housing-led, mixed-use urban regeneration scheme.
The Housing Executive recognises the contribution that developers can make to urban regeneration and welcomes the innovation available to them through professional expertise and funding solutions.
As the Strategic Housing Authority for Northern Ireland, the Housing Executive aims to provide a variety of housing choices at Hope Street that addresses the multi-tenure housing need in the area, including social homes and a mix of intermediate and private homes for sale or rent.
The redevelopment of Hope Street will provide a variety of much needed sustainable housing choices in Belfast city centre. A small provision for commercial use (10% of overall floor area) alongside quality public realm will animate the area, boost economic activity and attract new employment opportunities. Taking advantage of its strategic location, the development will promote active travel and create vibrant connections that will enhance accessibility and integration with the local context.
The Housing Executive has set out a clear vision for the redevelopment which will provide secure, affordable housing choices in Belfast City Centre creating safe, vibrant and environmentally friendly places. It will enhance accessibility and support the development of public realm and green spaces prioritising walking, cycling and public transport and remove barriers to movement between the city centre and surrounding communities, underpinned by 5 key objectives:
1: Residential: the majority of the development will be permanent residential homes for all;
2: Public realm: health and wellbeing improved with the provision of exemplar green space;
3: Integration & Accessibility; the site links to a city-wide network of people friendly routes;
4: Sustainability & Resilience: the advantage of location is utilised to support sustainability;
5: Commercial: stimulates economic growth and employment opportunities.
Further details are provided in the Design Specification which has been provided as part of the procurement documentation.
Further details regarding the opportunity are available in the cft documents section on eTenderNI. In addition, Lisney Commercial Real Estate has been appointed by the Housing Executive to proactively formally market and promote the property to the wider development market and as part of that role, has prepared an extended marketing brochure and promotional video, details of how to obtain are contained within the Invitation to Tender document. Developers (and members of their Developer's Teams) may contact Lisney Commercial Real Estate to obtain a copy of the marketing brochure for the site via the contact details provided in the Invitation to Tender. Developers should note however that all clarification requests must be submitted via the eTendersNI messaging facility in accordance with the instructions set out in the Invitation to Tender.
Total value (estimated)
- £3,850,000 excluding VAT
- £3,850,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 2 November 2026 to 31 October 2036
- 9 years, 11 months, 29 days
Options
The right to additional purchases while the contract is valid.
As set out in the draft Development Agreement and Lease made available as part of the procurement documentation.
Developers should also note the following:
The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) owns a strip of land between the northern boundary of the Hope Street site and Hope Street/Bruce Street. It is protected from development by a roads scheme proposal known as the City Centre Ring Southern Section (CCRSS), the extent of which is show in Map 6: DfI CCRSS Map made available as part of the procurement documentation. This scheme was included in dBMAP 2015 but has never materialized, and the land is now being reconsidered under the Eastern Transport Plan (ETP) currently under development. The outcome of this review is subject to consultation and will not be certain until it is adopted as part of the Belfast City Council Local Policies Plan (LPP), the first draft of which is anticipated later this year.
The Housing Executive recognizes the potential benefits of this strip of land to the Hope Street development and has initiated discussions with DfI on its future use. The area is currently licensed on a monthly basis as a compound to a contractor working on a large infrastructure project in the area. The Housing Executive has expressed an interest in acquiring the land, for potential integration into the scheme, pending the outcome of the ETP and subject to Government Disposal Procedures and any new or retained road protection lines.
In the interim, the DfI is willing to agree a form of access, if required and under terms to be agreed, for use of an area of their land as identified in Map 4: Site Plan + Adjacent DfI Land in the Project Documentation, for the purposes of the Hope Street development. This could be of benefit during construction as a contractor's compound, and potentially beyond completion to facilitate accessibility and connectivity to key destinations such as Belfast Grand Central Station and the commercial city centre. It is worth noting that the adjacent hotel has informal use of the remaining DfI land to the north of the site as a car park and bus drop off point. This land is also subject to the same road protection measure. The requirements of all interested parties must be taken into consideration when formalising any future arrangements. The Housing Executive will continue to engage with DfI and update all developers of any progress on this matter.
Main procurement category
Works
CPV classifications
- 45000000 - Construction work
- 45200000 - Works for complete or part construction and civil engineering work
- 45211000 - Construction work for multi-dwelling buildings and individual houses
- 45211100 - Construction work for houses
- 45211340 - Multi-dwelling buildings construction work
- 45100000 - Site preparation work
- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
- 71200000 - Architectural and related services
- 70110000 - Development services of real estate
- 70111000 - Development of residential real estate
- 70112000 - Development of non-residential real estate
Contract locations
- UKN - Northern Ireland
Participation
Legal and financial capacity conditions of participation
As detailed in the Procurement documents.
Technical ability conditions of participation
As detailed in the Procurement documents.
Particular suitability
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
Submission
Enquiry deadline
11 February 2026, 3:00pm
Submission type
Requests to participate
Deadline for requests to participate
27 February 2026, 3:00pm
Submission address and any special instructions
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Award decision date (estimated)
1 October 2026
Award criteria
| Name | Description | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality - Design Proposals | Design Proposals |
Quality | 35% |
| Price Submission | TP-PS Price Submission (to be evaluated based on highest price returned - i.e. the Developer that submits the highest offer will be allocated 30 percent) |
Price | 30% |
| Quality - Energy Performance Strategy | Energy Performance Strategy |
Quality | 14% |
| Quality - Stakeholder Engagement | Stakeholder Engagement |
Quality | 14% |
| Quality - Development Programme | Development Programme |
Quality | 7% |
Other information
Payment terms
As set out in the contract documentation (draft Development Agreement and Lease).
The Housing Executive reserves the right to require a parent company guarantee or alternative equivalent form of contractual commitment or security should the Developer be successful in this procurement. The Housing Executive also reserves the right to require bonds, deposits, guarantees, collateral warranties or other appropriate forms of contractual commitment, undertaking or security from any member(s) of the Developer's Team (as defined in the Invitation to Tender), to secure proper performance of the contract. The form of any guarantee, contractual commitment or security shall be specified by the Housing Executive, acting at its discretion and taking into account the structure of the Developer's Team.
The Housing Executive may also specify minimum contractual financial security requirements as appropriate, having regard to the structure of the Developer's Team and the financial assessment and due diligence undertaken during this procurement.
Where the Housing Executive specifies any form of guarantee, contractual commitment, security or contractual financial security requirements, acceptance of those requirements shall be considered a condition of contract award and failure to accept the same may result in the developer's exclusion from the procurement.
Subject to the status and involvement of the parties, the Housing Executive may require the parties to commit to joint and several liability under the contract arrangements. Alternatively, the Housing Executive may require the lead developer to take total responsibility or a consortium/developer and its associated persons to form a legal entity prior to the award of any contract.
The estimated value of the property included in this notice is an estimate (VAT will not be payable in addition to the Purchase price). Developers should not presume the estimate containing pounds and pence, to be anything other than an estimate. The estimate has been calculated using data held by Land & Property Services and represents a genuine estimate.
Applicable trade agreements
- Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Competitive flexible procedure description
This procurement involves an initial shortlisting of eligible developers (based on application of the Conditions of Participation set out in the P-0406 Response Document, Section1 Procurement Specific Questionnaire) and the invitation of developers who successfully meet the Conditions of Participation to an invitation to participate in dialogue (ITPD) stage, which includes a dialogue phase and a final tender stage, involving submission of final tenders and application of award criteria to determine the most advantageous tender. All developers that meet all of the criteria set out in the Response Document will be invited to participate in the ITPD stage.
It is anticipated that the procurement process will proceed through the following stages:
1.Tender notice published + procurement documentation made available
2.P-0406 Response Documents returned by developers
3.Housing Executive evaluates P-0406 Response Documents received + selects shortlist of eligible developers
4.Housing Executive informs unsuccessful developers
5.Finalised Invitation to Participate in Dialogue document (ITPD) and supporting documentation issued to shortlisted developers
6.Contract comments and P-0406 ITPD Developer's Design and Project Delivery Statement submitted by developers
7.Dialogue
8.Feedback - following dialogue sessions
9.Dialogue closed and Invitation to Submit Final Tenders issued
10.Deadline for receipt of final tenders plus responses to financial due diligence
11.Evaluation of final tenders and financial due diligence undertaken
12.Award decision approval
13.Provision of assessment summaries and publication of contract award notice and standstill period
14.Contract award - contract terms finalised and contract entered into with the successful developer
Developers should note however that the Housing Executive reserves the right to amend or adjust the steps and stages at any time at its discretion, within the confines of the Act.
Furthermore, whilst the Housing Executive intends, following successful conclusion of this procurement, to enter into a contract with the successful developer, there is no guarantee that a contract in the form outlined or any contract at all will be entered into by the Housing Executive. The Housing Executive reserves the right in its absolute discretion not to award a contract. The Housing Executive reserves the right to abandon the procurement at any time and for any reason. No legally binding contract shall arise (and a developer shall have no legitimate expectation that a contract will be entered into) until such time as entry into the contract has been confirmed by the Housing Executive.
Developers are responsible for all costs incurred by themselves, their staff, advisors, or any third party acting for them in connection with this procurement. For the avoidance of doubt, the Housing Executive is not liable for any costs arising from participation in, cancellation of, or amendments to, this process.
The Housing Executive may disqualify any developer who, after the Closing Time and Date (as defined in the ITT), becomes an Excluded or Excludable Supplier. If this status arises solely due to an Associated Person or Sub contractor, the Housing Executive will first notify the developer and allow reasonable opportunity to replace them.
All clarification requests and communications must be submitted via the eTendersNI clarifications facility by the deadlines specified. Direct contact with the Housing Executive's staff, Board members, advisors or other stakeholders outside the stated process is not permitted and may result in exclusion from the procurement process.
Developers are advised that the Housing Executive has appointed two independent professional services firms to act on its behalf in relation to this procurement process, as named in the Invitation to Tender. Given these parties' prior involvement in the preparation for and/or during the procurement process, neither of these parties may be part of a developer's team or advisors in relation to this procurement process.
Any persons making a decision to enter into a contractual relationship with the Housing Executive as a result of this procurement process should make their own investigations and undertake their own independent assessment of the developer's role and should seek their own professional financial, legal and other advice. Each developer considering making a decision to enter into a contractual relationship with the Housing Executive must rely on its own enquiries and on the terms and conditions set out in the contract as and when finally executed by the developer (if successful), subject to such limitations and restrictions as may be specified in the contract.
The Housing Executive will be entitled (but not obliged) at its absolute discretion to seek clarification and/or additional information from any developer.
Full and comprehensive details are provided in the Invitation to Tender and procurement documentation.
Contracting authority
Northern Ireland Housing Executive
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PTYV-8666-PQQY
2 Adelaide Street
Belfast
BT2 8PB
United Kingdom
Contact name: cprocurement@nihe.gov.uk
Email: cprocurement@nihe.gov.uk
Website: https://www.nihe.gov.uk/home
Region: UKN06 - Belfast
Organisation type: Public authority - central government
Devolved regulations that apply: Northern Ireland