An extension to the M65 and a successful bid for City Challenge funding could be very good news for Blackburn, reports Lauren Mills.
Blackburn’s role as a commercial centre is far from fully explored. But, according to borough property manager Tim Cash, the forthcoming M65 extension provides an improved link with the national motorway network which should enhance Blackburn’s position as a strategic business location.
The M65 extension, which will connect with the M61 and M6 at Bamber Bridge, is scheduled for completion in 1997, but this is not the only initiative which could raise the area’s business profile. A year ago, the town was successful in its bid for City Challenge funding, which could generate up to £184m of private-sector investment. Local agents hope that this will buck the downward trend.
The borough council estimates that, at the end of the five-year City Challenge period, nearly 1.4m sq ft of new and improved industrial and commercial floorspace will be created, together with 935 new houses for sale and rent, and more than 2,000 new jobs.
Cash says: “This shows the scale of the development that will be taking place in Blackburn in the next four years. The first year has been successful, with housing, industrial and infrastructure projects well under way.”
This is good news for an area that has seen very little new development in recent years. Indeed, Trevor Dawson & Co’s Caroline James believes that private-sector development remains unlikely. She says: “It is still difficult to envisage office schemes getting off the ground without grant aid.”
Allen Commercial Developments is about to start on site with its 15,000-sq ft office scheme fronting the town’s new inner ring road, Barbara Castle Way. But the development would not have got started without City Challenge aid.
James, who is the letting agent, says: “About one-third of the £1.7m development cost is being funded through grant aid.” She predicts rents of about £7 per sq ft.
For the time being, this is the only office scheme in the pipeline. But this is not surprising while rents remain too low to make development viable. Indeed, the last significant office deal happened more than a year ago when Rawlings Developments sold its 10,000-sq ft Rawlings House on Exchange Street to Taylors solicitors for £675,000. James, who was the selling agent, says: “This is a prime area on the edge of the shopping centre, but there is no parking.”
James explains that Blackburn’s office core is split between Richmond Terrace and Preston New Road/Strawberry Bank. But there is very little quality space available. “It tends to be unrefurbished, secondhand space,” she says.
Blackburn’s office sector plays second fiddle to the town’s industrial and warehousing market. And the two sectors have been pushed further apart by the impact of the M65 and the designation of several enterprise zones along the motorway corridor – all of which have now expired. James says that these factors have had a fundamental effect on the employment profile of east Lancashire.
She points out that EZ-driven schemes have emerged from Lomeshaye in the east, to Altham and Clayton Park in the west. For instance, at Lomeshaye Business Village close to junction 12 of the M65, the Glenfield Park Group has converted a former mill complex to provide 200,000 sq ft in units from 400 sq ft.
But, unlike other enterprise zones in the North West, James believes that, in the M65 area, there is a high proportion of owner-occupiers, with few speculative developments.
This leaves the door open for developers to mop up latent demand. For instance, close to junction 7 of the M65, 4 miles east of the town centre, Eric Wright Construction has started infrastructure works for the third phase of Altham Business Park. But the developer is unlikely to complete the phase without prelets.
Nevertheless, there is cause to be optimistic: the first two phases attracted headquarters developments for the likes of Simon Jersey and Andrew Industries. And, in a further vote of confidence for the location, existing occupier Cooper Dauphin is about to move into a 100,000-sq ft extension of its current premises. Trevor Dawson & Co and Derrick Wade & Waters are joint letting agents.
Storey Sons & Parker’s Alex Taylor explains that, around Blackburn, demand is for freeholds up to 30,000 sq ft. At Altham Lane industrial estate, he is marketing 12 acres with consent for B1/B2/B8 on behalf of Trans Britannia Properties. The first 3-acre phase is under offer for design-and-builds at £48,000 per acre. Mark Taylforth is jointly instructed.
Taylor doubts that speculative industrial development will get off the ground without public-sector assistance. In this respect he believes that Greenbank Business Park, close to junction 6 of the M65, will be the next major development area.
English Estates is one of the most active developers on the site. It developed more than 40,000 sq ft speculatively about 18 months ago. Tenants include Duffy Converting Equipment and Regina International UK. Rents are in the region of £3.35 per sq ft. English Estates senior surveyor Rob Johnson confirms that a second phase is under consideration.
King Sturge’s Alastair Newman believes that Greenbank has enormous potential. He says: “Greenbank is in a good location next to the well-established Whitebirk industrial estate and the M65 extension will be a great bonus. If there is to be more speculative development it will probably be at Greenbank.”
Taylor believes that private-sector-driven speculative development will only get going when the supply of secondhand space dries up. “I do not think that there is much demand for new units, and it will be the end of the year before there is a shortage of good industrial accommodation.”
One of Taylor’s concerns is that Blackburn needs more good-quality office space. “Blackburn is not a regional centre and major moves tend to be from within the town itself. National inquiries go to Preston instead.”
