Most town centre regeneration schemes go looking for an occupier after the building is up. Blackburn has done it the other way round. Kier has been appointed preferred bidder for the £45m Star Square scheme, and the anchor tenant has already agreed to buy the building. As Place North West reported, Star Academies has committed to purchasing the freehold of 1 Star Square for £10.3m on completion.
Why that pre-commitment changes everything
Town centre schemes fail for one reason more than any other: they get built speculatively, nobody takes the space, and the scheme sits half empty while the council takes the criticism. A signed commitment to buy the freehold at a fixed price on completion removes most of that risk before a spade goes in the ground. It also makes the rest of the scheme far easier to fund, because the anchor is not a hope, it is a contract.
What is being built
The first phase is a 93,000 sq ft building, 1 Star Square, on part of the existing Brown Street car park, alongside a new pocket park. Inside will be a 200-seat lecture theatre, training facilities, flexible workspace, meeting rooms and a recording studio, described as a hub for educational leadership, training and innovation. Star Academies will relocate its headquarters and its National Institute of Teaching there.
Who is paying
The funding stack is worth reading, because it shows what a modern town centre scheme actually needs: £20m of government funding, £2m from the Lancashire Combined County Authority, plus contributions from Star Academies itself and Blackburn with Darwen Council. Public money takes the early risk, the occupier puts in equity, and a national contractor delivers. No single source could have carried it alone.
Where it is up to
Highway improvements are already complete and drainage diversion works should finish by the end of the year. Main construction could start as early as spring 2027. That is a long lead time, and it is worth being clear-eyed that “preferred bidder” is not a signed contract. But the enabling work is done, which is usually where these schemes stall.
The wider Blackburn plan
Star Square is one piece of a £250m town centre vision that also includes the restoration of St John’s Church, the renovation of King George’s Hall and a cultural quarter. Set alongside the £100m Darwen Town Deal and the AMRC Additive Manufacturing Accelerator, Blackburn with Darwen has assembled one of the more coherent town centre programmes in the North West.
The honest test is still years away: whether all of it gets built, and whether Blackburn people end up working in it. But an anchor tenant that is a national education body, headquartered in the town rather than visiting it, is a stronger foundation than most schemes start with.
The North is FU7URE’s daily briefing on the people, capital and infrastructure reshaping the North of England. Subscribe to the free newsletter to get it in your inbox each morning.
Leave a Reply