A New Purpose For Custom House

As Custom House opens its doors to its first office space clients, we meet the man who acquired the asset and took on the restoration of one of Belfast’s most iconic buildings.

Neil McKibbin, director of Straidorn Properties, began his career straight from school into Ulster Bank in 1979. His journey to work took him through Custom House Square. Never did he imagine then that one day he would be the owner of one of the city’s landmark buildings.

McKibbin enjoyed a 20-year career in banking and finance until making the unusual move away from an institutionalised occupation to enter into a partnership in a truck rentals business.

By 2002 Neil and his partner had their own dealership, and it was through this partnership that he gained his first property development experience.

By 2004 Neil was ready to go it alone and over the next ten years expanded his portfolio, acquiring dealerships in Sussex and Surrey in 2009. With no interest in property then other than those in which the businesses were operating; when he was ready to diversify, bricks and mortar seemed an obvious investment option.

Straidorn was established in 2016 with the purchase of former linen building Flax House on Adelaide Street, which was immediately redeveloped. Neil’s plan had been to set aside two floors for flexible workspace, but all the space was quickly snapped up. Meanwhile, in 2018, Neil also became joint partner in Belfast recruitment firm VANRATH, purchasing Victoria House on Gloucester Street for their own offices in 2019.

With a constant eye to the flexible workspace market, when Custom House became available Neil knew it would be perfect as a high-end serviced office, and while no one else had the appetite for taking it on and others warned him against it, he had a vision for the building, seeing something in it that no one else saw. Custom House was designed by leading architect Sir Charles Lanyon and constructed between 1854 and 1857 by D & J Fulton. Throughout its history it has been subject to various remodelling schemes but has retained some of its original period features, including the central staircase and a number of decorative carvings.

“Lanyon was responsible for many of Belfast’s grandest buildings. Queen’s University and Custom House were built as statement pieces during the glory period of 1840 to 1860 when the city first experienced a boom, principally due to the linen trade and shipbuilding,” explains Neil.

“Back in 2020, when I was first introduced to it, I fell in love with the building from the moment I stepped through the door, but delivering a great product isn’t just about having a wonderful building, it’s about the execution and finding the best partner for delivery.

“That’s where BE Offices came in, an organisation who have proven themselves to be as passionate about this proposition as I am, and who can take this property to where it needs to be.”

BE Offices, one of the UK’s leading independent providers of flexible space, was appointed by Straidorn in April 2022 to help create and manage Custom House’s new flexible workspace offering to fit the evolving demands of occupiers. Pre-opening, it unsurprisingly saw major interest and strong take-up for the space.

“A ‘best in class’ product requires ‘best in class’ levels of service provision so I was delighted to enter into partnership with BE to create a workspace ecosystem with flexibility at its heart, set within a jewel of Belfast’s build heritage,” says Neil.

“I’m confident that together we can deliver for the long term to create a successful venture for both BE Offices, Straidorn and the city of Belfast, which I care very passionately about.”

Commenting previously on the partnership, Jonathan Weinbrenn, managing director of BE Offices’ managed workspace division, BE.Spoke, leading on the project, said: “The impacts of Covid on the office world have only exacerbated demand for better, healthier workspaces – human-centric environments underpinned by hospitality, rich in amenities and embedded with technology. Custom House provides the perfect template to deliver a postpandemic remedy. In conjunction with Neil, we have created the premier workspace destination in Belfast!”

Custom House has been sympathetically and fully refurbished to futureproof it for the next 30 years and enable anyone to come and use it – from a single co-worker to 150-person office. The building offers wellness pods, a complimentary gym, a yoga studio, a shower and changing facilities, bike storage, a coffee lounge and a podcast room, as well as an extensive suite of indoor and outdoor event spaces and meeting room facilities. A dedicated BE hospitality team will be on hand to deliver its award-winning customer service and support, a team headed by Richard Taylor, the former deputy general manager of the Slieve Donard.

Custom House is also set to be Northern Ireland’s first WELL Certified building, on track to achieve Platinum status via the International WELL Building Institute. WELL focuses exclusively on the ways that buildings can improve occupier comfort, drive better choices, and generally enhance occupier health and wellbeing.

Neil confesses that the project has become a bit of an obsession, perhaps even to the detriment of his other businesses.

“Custom House has been my main focus for the last two years. Has it been worthwhile? Yes, it has, it’s quite obvious it will be a success.

“The building is instantly recognisable – when you switch on the news Custom House is there behind the reporter. There are three buildings in Belfast that everyone knows: Stormont, City Hall and Custom House. To some extent, as long as we have done justice to the status of the building, and I feel that we have, then it will sell itself.

“Custom House was a beautiful building in 1857 and is now a wonderful building in 2023, fully refurbished, ready for action and leading the way in Belfast for introducing new job opportunities for the next generation.

“My city has a tremendous heritage, really great people, first-class education and an excellent work ethic. If we had more dynamic and creative places for people to work, there is so much more we could collectively accomplish. The refurbished Custom House will lead the way in setting standards for the Belfast serviced office market for years to come.”

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Well done team – you are Simply Amazing!

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