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26 Mar 2026
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26 Mar 2026
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A historic former Department for the Economy headquarters could be set to become a nursing home.
Netherleigh House, a neoclassical Grade B1 listed building on Massey Avenue in east Belfast, close to Stormont, dates back to 1880.
The six-acre site also includes a 1970s office block and woodland.
It was originally a private home, counting linen merchant and politician Major Samuel Hall-Thompson among its former residents.
It went on to serve as the preparatory department for Campbell College before becoming government offices, and most recently housed the headquarters for the Department for the Economy until 2023.
The house even enjoyed a taste of the spotlight when it was used as the filming location for the fictional Blackthorn police station in the second series of the BBC police drama Blue Lights.
The site, which stretches to 6.4 acres in total, was marketed for £5.75 million last year and sold.
Now there is a plan to convert the existing office block for a residential and nursing care facility.
According to a planning application lodged with Belfast City Council earlier this year, it also aims to erect two assisted living blocks, parking, landscaped amenity areas and a woodland trail.
The plan will be open for public consultation from August 21 to September 5.
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