Funding secured to kickstart £300m Blackpool Central leisure development

Developer Nikal has signed a deal with one of the UK’s biggest pension funds, the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), to finance delivery of the 1,306 space seven storey car park on Central Car Park.

Site preparation is set to begin in the coming weeks and construction will take around 16 months to complete.

Motorists will still be able to use Central Car Park while construction of the new facilities is underway, but there will be no access from Seasiders Way with the route closing some time in March.

Diversions from Seasiders Way at its junctions with Waterloo Road and Bloomfield Road will be in place with access from Central Drive remaining open.

There will be 250 fewer parking bays in Central Car Park which currently has 900 spaces.

As part of the deal, Blackpool Council will lease the multi-storey car park from Nikal and will operate it once it is built, with surface parking still available until work begins on the first phase of the leisure offering.

Nikal has also selected construction and development company Ballast Nedam to build the car park.

Richard Fee, chief executive officer of Nikal said: “This is an important step forward and builds momentum behind Blackpool Central.

“We look forward to breaking ground on this crucial first phase, which will kickstart one of the UK’s most important regeneration projects.”

USS is the principal pension scheme for universities and other higher education institutions in the UK with total fund assets of around £82 billion.

The car park is part of the enabling phase of the project which will cost £32m in total.

Full planning permission was granted last October for the car park, along with work to convert and upgrade buildings on Central Drive including the King Edward cinema, King Edward pub and King Edward apartments into holiday accommodation, restaurants and bars as part of a new heritage quarter.

The Heritage Quarter is set to be built by spring 2024, with further phases not operational until spring or summer 2025.

Outline planning was also approved for three indoor theme parks, a 200-room hotel plus bars, restaurants and outdoor entertainment space.

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