Ambitious plans unveiled for Derry’s Rosemount Factory

Ambitious plans with an estimated capital cost of £5 million have been unveiled for Derry’s Rosemount Factory.

Situated at the top of Brooke Park, the iconic four-storey red brick Rosemount Factory was built in 1904.

Adrian Kelly and Francine Moran from Foyleside Developments Limited outlined the organisation’s plans for the building at Tuesday’s meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Governance and Strategic Planning Committee.

According to Foyleside Developments’ Stitch In Time report, Rosemount Factory represents “a significant part of Derry’s industrial heritage” and “is the last remaining shirt factory in the city not to have fully realised its potential development opportunities”.

Glen Development Initiative was the lead partner in the Community Consultation around the future of the Factory, in partnership with The Village Hub and Ballymagroarty Hazelbank Community Partnership (BHCP)

“[The groups] undertook a Community Consultation to determine the needs within the area and to assess the viability of purchasing the Rosemount Factory,” said the report.

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“Residents and organisations were invited to have the opportunity to contribute to the process through one-to-one conversations, completing an online consultation document or by visiting one of the consultation information events being held in BHCP offices, the Village Community Hub, or Glenview Community Centre.”

The priorities identified in the 2025 Consultation Report were: arts and culture; community development; social support; education and health services; social enterprise development; accommodation; heritage (working shirt factory); and a restaurant.

Outlining the “expected benefits of the project to the residents and communities of OuterWest Foyleside Local Growth Partnership” the Business Case in the Stitch In Time Report highlighted: “community wealth building, and an opportunity to bring the Factory into community ownership for the benefit of the whole community rather than private interests”.

It also projected: “[The] possible increase in unrestricted revenue and income for re-investment in the community; an increase in physical infrastructure in an area of scarce resources; the creation of employment and training opportunities; and support for the establishment and development of social enterprises and other businesses.

“[And the] provision of modern and comfortable student accommodation; creating cohesion and partnership working among all the communities in the area; and the development of a heritage museum dedicated to the shirt factory industry and the story of Rosemount.”

The capital costs of the project are estimated at £5 million. This includes the £1.5 million initial purchase of Rosemount Factory, and £3.5 million for demolition of outlying buildings, renovation and construction.

According to the Stitch In Time report, Pride in Place has placed the Rosemount Factory project in its 10-year-plan as a “top priority from OuterWest/Foyleside DEA”.

Launched in March 2025, Pride in Place comprises 75 localities in the North, England, Wales and Scotland which have been selected to receive funding. Areas were selected due to indices for multiple deprivation, population size, healthy life expectancy, and Gross Value Added (GVA) per hour worked. Derry City and Coleraine were the only localities selected in the North.

At the end of the presentation, Foyleside Developments asked the Council to endorse the presentation and approve Council’s “engagement and support towards the development of the project”.

During the subsequent discussion Sinn Féin councillor Christopher Jackson proposed that the Committee should “endorse” Foyleside Developments’ “vision” for Rosemount Factory “and commit Council support in any way we can”.

Supporting the project, Cllr Jackson described it as “exciting, ambitious and achievable”.

“The one thing that makes it achievable is the University expansion,” he said. “The University is expanding on the doorstep of this historic building and it is going to be a catalyst for economic activity. It is going to be a catalyst for the entire NorthWest region. And Rosemount and the community surrounding it should benefit.”

However Cllr Jackson’s proposal was withdrawn following concerns voiced by Cllr Brian Tierney (SDLP) and Cllr Shaun Harkin (PBP). It will be revisited at Full Council on March 25.

Broadly welcoming the Foyle Developments’ Rosemount Factory development plans, Cllr Harkin said: “One thing that has been of concern to me and I know to a lot of other people is the issue of student accommodation in the factory.

“I believe the corporate position of the Council and the Taskforce is not to support large-scale student accommodation slap bang in the middle of residential areas.

“That is why we have discussed urging Ulster University to fund large-scale accommodation themselves, not just be reliant on the private sector, but to do that in areas that are not going to overly influence or impact settled residential areas.

“I think that the scale of student accommodation in the middle of Rosemount will have a big, big impact. It will become known as a student area and that will have an impact on the rest of the housing stock which will then displace people.”

Cllr Tierney acknowledged the 2025 Consultation Report did highlight the “wishes of the community around accommodation”.

“[However] it doesn’t in the Consultation Report as presented here, reference student accommodation as one of the priorities for people in the area,” he added.

“I am aware of at least one resident group which doesn’t support this proposal around student accommodation. What engagement have you had with them? Is there a role for them within this project group?

“I appreciate Cllr Jackson has made a proposal but, at this stage I am not in a position to support that proposal. I’ll 100% support most of the ideas that you have around the Factory but it is in terms of the residents’ engagement going forward where I have major concerns.”