King’s Cross & St.

Pancras Station

Source: Wikipedia
A critical transport hub during the Victorian era.
King’s Cross station in 1890.

Source: the Guardian

1970s - the area surrounding the stations became a blight area
1996 - the Government suggested redeveloping the area
A critical part of the regeneration effort is the Highspeed 1 /
Eurostar connection.
1970s - the area surrounding the stations became a blight area
1996 - the Government suggested redeveloping the area
A critical part of the regeneration effort is the Highspeed 1 /
Eurostar connection.
Estimated impact of the station regeneration:
• £2,800m high density, mixed use development
• Up to 30,000 jobs
• 250 new businesses
• 490,000sqm of new office and retail
• 1,800 new homes
 • Prior to regeneration, LCR (gov’t) and King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership (KCCLP) current
Exel (private) owned most of the land ownership :
• Public-private agreement with one • Argent (50%)
developer – Argent – to redevelop Kings • AustralianSuper (36.5%) – Australia’s largest pension fund
– purchased 36.5% stake of KCCLP from LCR for £370
Cross (through a joint collective
million; proceeds went to the HM Treasury)
ownership acquisition and development • DHL (formerly Exel) – 13.5%
agreement)
• Land assessment by third party after
Channel Tunnel Rail Link completion.
• Argent can choose to:
- buy the land at assessed price, or
- enter a 50/50 joint partnership
• Argent enjoys a discount on the purchase
price – higher assessed prices leads to
higher discount – incentivisingArgent to
maximise the land value during the rail
construction period.

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 St. Pancras Station and King’s Cross

Key success factors:

• Early tenants – including
Google and the University of
the Arts London – set the
tone and attracted other
businesses to the area.
• Organic growth – takes years
for the market to respond.
• Thorough consultation -
Argent chief executive
personally rode a bike and
met 7,500 people in 353
meetings to understand local
needs and challenges.
• Consistent developing team
– the development
stakeholders remain
unchanged since 2001.

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