Construction has started on the new £73m Kirklees College in Huddersfield, which forms part of the Huddersfield Waterfront Quarter Regeneration Scheme, and is due to open in September 2012.

The waterfront scheme is predicted to create up to 2,000 new jobs and includes 190,000 sq ft of office space, 300 new homes, leisure facilities and restaurants with a new public square on a six-acre site near the town centre. Development plots for offices and leisure use will be available from summer 2011.

Paul Barber, chief executive of Strategic Sites, said: "The Waterfront Quarter is one of the few major regeneration projects to proceed in the current climate. As well as bringing huge benefits to Huddersfield and West Yorkshire in general, the project also marks a shift by Strategic Sites into the role of development management, a natural extension of our traditional role as a developer."

The project will also enable access to the Huddersfield Narrow Canal which currently runs under the site, to create a waterway which will also serve to provide cooling water for the college building.