Belfast's Crumlin Road courthouse for sale

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Hotel planImage source, Signature Living
Image caption,

This artist's impression from Signature Living shows how they envisaged the courthouse would look as a hotel

Belfast's Crumlin Road courthouse is up for sale again.

The listed building, which has planning permission to be converted to a hotel, has been put on the market by Signature Living., external

The Liverpool-based developer bought the building in 2017 and said it planned to spend £25m on the project.

Signature is selling a second Belfast property, the War Memorial Building on Waring Street., external

It also has planning permission for a hotel conversion.

Image source, Pacemaker
Image caption,

Damage was caused to the roof of the courthouse in 2009 after two separate fires over one weekend

The Crumlin Road courthouse is one of Northern Ireland's most distinctive buildings.

The courthouse closed in 1998, after nearly 150 years of use.

Since then various development plans have failed to get off the ground and the building has been damaged in a number of fires.

Two years ago Signature, which is owned by Lawrence Kenwright, announced plans to develop five hotels in Belfast.

Image source, Press Eye
Image caption,

Signature's owner Lawrence Kenwright announced plans to develop the Scottish Mutual building into the George Best hotel a month after buying the Crumlin Road Courthouse

There has only been significant work on one property, the George Best Hotel in the city centre.

That project has faced a series of delays and its opening date is still uncertain.

In June, some staff who had been employed ahead of the hotel's planned opening were offered redundancy packages.

Earlier this week, the company put two of its top Liverpool hotels on the market.

The football-themed Shankly Hotel is open to offers of over £35m, while the 30 James St Hotel is advertised for offers over £16m

Signature Living has been contacted for comment.