Blackpool Central will be put on the market

The Blackpool Central redevelopment site is being placed on the market following the collapse of a £300m leisure project.

The move comes after Nikal, the developer behind the plan - described as the largest single investment in the town for more than a century – appointed administrators.

Blackpool Central was to have been a year-round world-class leisure destination just off the resort’s famous Golden Mile. It was hailed as “one of the UK’s most important regeneration projects.”

The aim was to create up to 1,000 jobs, bring an estimated 600,000 additional visitors each year, and boost annual spend in the resort by £75m.

The plans for the site of the old Blackpool Central railway station, which were first unveiled in 2018, included hotels, restaurants, food market, event square, residential apartments and multi-storey parking.

Blackpool Council is terminating its agreement with Nikal and is looking to appoint professional agents to take the 17-acre site out to market early in the new year.

The council says that Nikal is “no longer in a position to deliver their proposals for the site.”

A report to the full council says: “Whilst this is clearly a setback, the council’s stated ambition to see a major leisure-led development on the site remains unchanged.” 

The report adds: “Over the course of the past few years we have been preparing the site to be drawn down by the developer.

“Work has included undertaking and having a CPO confirmed, negotiating and securing funding for the relocation of the courts, and we are soon to commence the demolition of the former courts and police station.

“In addition, Nikal has completed the first phase of the development with the construction of the new 1,306 space multi-storey car park. All of this has been achieved at no capital cost to the council.

“This work puts the council in a strong position, with major obstacles having been overcome, meaning that the site is now much more attractive and ready for development.

“The council will seek the appointment of professional commercial/leisure agents to take the site out to the market early in the new year.

“In the interim we may look at further opportunity for uses of the site pending future development to ensure that the momentum to bring new exciting attractions continues.”

The collapse of the Nikal project is the latest setback to plans to regenerate the site. It was once earmarked for a Las Vegas style ‘super casino’.