Blackburn town centre blow as housing development shelved (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Blackburn town centre blow as housing development shelved

8:10am Friday 8th August 2008 in

By Tom Moseley » Reporter

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A MAJOR blow has been dealt to Blackburn’s town centre regeneration after the final stage of a multi-million-pound housing development was shelved.

Two thirds of the 79 flats in millionaire pub boss Margo Grimshaw’s Cathedral Village scheme will be put on hold with bosses blaming the credit crunch and a lack of sales for their decision.

The complex, which includes luxury flats with outdoor hot-tubs, is seen as a key part of the regeneration, bringing quality town centre living to Blackburn.

Council bosses and traders said they desperately hoped the project would recover.

Project manager Clive Brookes confirmed the largest of the four buildings, containing 65 of the flats, had been “postponed”.

The foundations have already been laid on the land, off Market Street Lane, the site of Ms Grimshaw’s bars and nightclubs The Castle, C’est La Vie, Never Never Land and Mr G’s - all of which have been bulldozed.

Mr Brookes said the area would be “landscaped” until work could begin.

He insisted the final phase would still get built at some point.

Mr Brooks said: “It has been postponed because of the current economic climate. It is terrible at the moment. We have got people banging on our doors to buy, but then they go out and can’t get a mortgage.

“This project was always designed in different phases, to stop and start as the economic climate changes.”

He said “between seven and nine” apartments had been sold so far, with prospective purchasers “struggling to get mortgages”.

Work on the entire project has slowed down because of the speed of sales, he said, adding: “There’s no point in me having 70 flats finished when people can’t get mortgages.”

The £15 million development was initially intended to create 79 apartments and 13 shops. An underground car park will also be added on the Market Street Lane site.

The first phase, a tower with top floor penthouse suites at the top of Mincing Lane, is almost complete, and it will contain 11 flats. The next two buildings to be finished are part-built, opposite the final building in Market Street Lane, and will contain a total of 16 flats. The remaining 52 apartments are included in the final phase.

The first three buildings are already on the market, and investors have already targeted the development trying to snap up the flats at a bargain price.

Mr Brookes added: “We have got offers on all the flats, but whether or not we want to accept them is another matter.

“Some of them are discounted and we are declining. We are trying not to sell to investors.”

Fleming Square hairdresser Jeff Stone, whose shop backs on to the site, said: “I desperately want this plan to succeed, and I have no joy in seeing it stumble at the moment.

“Let’s hope the economic climate improves quickly. Margo deserves this very bold venture to be a success.”

Ms Grimshaw won planning permission to demolish her pubs and replace them with apartments three years ago, claiming the smoking ban would kill the pub industry.

Coun Alan Cottam, executive member for regeneration, said the project was important to the town centre, and said it could be helped by the council-led £70million development around Blackburn Cathedral, which is due to begin next year.

He said: “It doesn’t sound too good, but hopefully it will be a short break.

“I thought it would be a big improvement to the area, and we were hoping it would be successful.”

Labour regeneration spokesman Andy Kay said he felt the problems were caused by the same factors as the delays that have hit Blackburn’s proposed new shopping centre.

He said: “It’s not particularly surprising - in fact I am surprised they have managed to go this far.

“I think the developers were being a bit optimistic with the timescales.

"But it’s shown with the Mall, who are having difficulties. It’s not particular to Margo or Blackburn.

“We need people living in the town centre, and it needs to go ahead as soon as possible.”

Comments(23)

katiemac says...
9:00am Fri 8 Aug 08

wot a joke margo!!!