In less than a month Argent has teamed up with one of New York’s most talked about developers, sold a 25% stake in King’s Cross Central, secured preferred partner status on the 192-acre Brent Cross South scheme, NW4, and, through its long-term backer Hermes, is edging closer to forming a joint venture with Haringey council to build more than 2,000 homes at Tottenham Hale, N17.
In the latest edition of EG Radio’s Real Talk series, broadcaster James Max sat down with key directors from the developer to find out what is giving Argent the edge when it comes to major regeneration around some of the country’s biggest transport nodes.
With King’s Cross proving to be a phenomenal success story, completely transforming an area once regarded as one of the most rundown in central London; its new relationship with New York’s Related Companies raising questions over whether it will win the next biggest rail-linked regeneration project in the capital at Euston Station; its work on creating a new community around Manchester Airport; and its vision to create a sizeable slice of Paradise in Birmingham, is Argent the UK’s best regeneration company?
For managing partner David Partridge, Argent’s success can be traced back to its confidence in the UK’s transport hubs. He says that what makes any development great is its accessibility and great transport links.
Argent, he says, looks at the arrival sequence at any given project, at the things there are to do there – live, work, educate, entertain.
He is not surprised that many could not see the opportunity King’s Cross posed when Argent first looked at the project. “It was 67 acres trapped between two grotty stations,” he says, adding that there was no reason anyone should have immediately seen any future in the tatty and under-used transport infrastructure.
But, says Partridge, Argent’s unique take on “pieces of city”, as he calls them, means it can see opportunity where others cannot. And its backing from “patient capital” in the form of the BT Pension Scheme, means it can play the long game.
“We don’t come at development from a typical surveyor/developer background,” says Partridge. “We think about it as a place. Would we like to live here? Would we like to work here? Would we send our kids to school here? If we can imagine that then we can start to think about creating the value that repays the patient capital behind us.”
He says a collaborative approach enables the company to find value and success in complex sites.
“We are putting together pieces of city, which have to be long-term sustainable – economically, socially and environmentally,” says Partridge, adding that creating a sense of ownership for these pieces of city is key.
The story of creating new pieces of city and harnessing infrastructure is similar in Birmingham, where senior project director Rob Groves is leading the 2m sq ft redevelopment of Paradise Circus.
Birmingham is a hub for both the rail and road network of the country. This centrality of Birmingham in the UK as a whole has been essential in the city’s historical success and is a strong reason Argent believes it is going to be going forward as well.
The central theme continues with Paradise Circus. The 17-acre project is just a two-minute walk from the £600m New Street Station, which is due to open this September, bringing with it a new tram system and the biggest John Lewis – still the nation’s favourite retailer – outside of central London.
“Paradise Circus is right in the heart of all that investment,” says Groves. “That’s over £1bn of investment that isn’t being talked about. It’s being done.”
Echoing Partridge, he says that Paradise Circus, which Argent is developing with backing from the BT Pension Scheme and in joint venture with Birmingham city council, has the right location, where there is major investment happening and a fantastic environment around it.
“The challenge was infrastructure,” he says. “We have to repair a great located piece of city but a piece of city that was completely destroyed by the highway engineers and, dare I say it, the architecture planning of the 60s and 70s.”
Partridge, Groves and Ruairidh Jackson, senior project manager charged with delivering 150 acres of new development around Manchester Airport, all agree that infrastructure is key to Argent’s success and, indeed, the success of regeneration as a whole.
“Investment in infrastructure is always a key driver,” says Groves.
And with the track record it is creating for itself and its ability to commit long-term to transformative projects in the UK’s capital and key cities, it may be that Argent is widely regarded as that key driver before too long.
Tweet us your suggestions for Real Talk guests at @estatesgazette using #realtalk
