Anyone who has visited King’s Cross in the last five years will be sure to have noticed the sheer scale of the works being carried out there, transforming an area once referred to as ‘the train lands’ into a vibrant and productive part of London. And, although the King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership’s work is far from done, huge improvements are already noticeable throughout King’s Cross.
Backed by respected property developers Argent and Hermes Real Estate, King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership have made significant progress in modernising and regenerating the industrial wasteland of disused buildings and abandoned warehouses and are well on their way to creating an attractive place for Londoners to live, work and visit.
The numbers
Looking at the numbers behind the development is an easy way to grasp an insight into the magnitude of the project. Spanning over 67 acres, the works aim to reinvigorate King’s Cross and hope to inject a new lease of life into the area.
When complete the works will consist of:
- 1,900 new homes/Apartments
- 20 new streets
- 50 New buildings
- 10 new public parks and squares
- 26 acres of open space
Progress
The work completed for far has already been enough to attract huge names to King’s Cross. In September 2011 we saw the University of Arts move into the refurbished Granary Complex, and Google, Universal Music, Louis Vuitton and Havas Media all have plans to move north in the near future.
The scope of the works has provided large refurbished office space that companies like Google have been overjoyed to take on. Recent years have seen an influx of businesses to King’s Cross due to comparably lower rents and these have silently transformed King’s Cross into a diverse market.
The development will also consist of approximately 3.4 million sq ft of new workspace across 19 refurbished buildings. This vibrant city quarter will include shopping, galleries, cultural venues, bars restaurants, homes and even schools, connected through a series of parks squares and open spaces, most notably the fountains by Granary Square, Lewis Cubbit Park and Gasholder Park.
The Future
And so with the wheels of change firmly in motion, what is in store for the future of King’s Cross? And what impact can we expect the works to have on King’s Cross’s office market? It’s clear that King’s Cross is only going to continue to attract more business and that these companies will generally be a diverse mix; tech, media, fashion etc. Everything is in place to make King’s Cross truly thrive and evidence of this is already being seen.