This week’s opening of the stunning King’s Cross Concourse will be the final phase of over £2.5bn of investment in local transport schemes, covering High Speed 1, St Pancras International, Thameslink 2000 and the Underground station.
Huge progress has already been made at the 67-acre site. Central Saint Martins’ campus (part of the University of the Arts London) opened in October 2011, and more than £250m has been spent or committed to infrastructure, streets and squares.
The first residential buildings will be completed towards the end of this year, and the first elements of more than 0.5m sq ft of committed commercial space will be occupied early next year.
Work continues apace on student accommodation and the delivery of a wide range of hotel, cultural, educational, retail and leisure uses.
But King’s Cross is, and always has been, more than the area under development by the King’s Cross Partnership. The new St Pancras Renaissance London Hotel is now open, and development of the Francis Crick Institute – the largest bio-medical centre in Europe – is well under way, bringing a further £650m of investment to the area.
In addition, King’s Place, renowned as the home of The Guardian, is host to an extensive programme of exhibitions and concerts, and is considered an arts destination in its own right.
Harness energy
Once we had gone beyond the planning stage, we realised quickly that it is the people behind these initiatives who form the nucleus of a business community that voted with its feet (and pocket) to come to the area.
It was vital that their energy and commitment, and that of the local communities, was harnessed in order to deliver the real benefits of the massive investment to which we were all committed.
There is no doubt that development can be a major catalyst for regeneration, but to have a long-term impact, it needs to provide more than a “one-off” boost.
This can only be achieved by engendering a real community concerned not just about the effects of that initial investment, but also with the longer-term issues of living and working in the new place that has been created.
Influenced progress
The community consultation exercise undertaken by Argent and the King’s Cross Partnership from 2002 to 2006, before outline planning permission was granted in December 2006, influenced the progress of large regeneration schemes such as Earl’s Court and Nine Elms. Important lessons were learned about working with local communities and other stakeholders.
The King’s Cross Partnership is just one of nine founding members – a combination of major employers and investors in the area – of The King’s Cross and St Pancras Business Partnership. The others are: EC Harris; Grant Thornton; Network Rail; Eurostar; HS1; King’s Place; Guardian News and Media, and Macmillan Publishing.
The main objectives of the partnership, which also has a number of associate members, are to:
? Promote King’s Cross to business customers, visitors and staff
? Enhance the environment
? Improve local amenities and services
? Deliver a comprehensive CSR programme linking businesses to local communities
? Act as a single voice and forum for discussions on key issues with Camden and Islington local authorities.
As the area develops further, the partnership could well morph into a fully-fledged business improvement district, and we have been working closely with those who have delivered this model successfully elsewhere in London.
Of course, this is not the first time that Argent has used this approach. In Birmingham, we were the main mover behind the Broad Street BID, and in Manchester we founded and developed the Piccadilly Partnership, which has produced significant results; it is now largely run by 40 to 50 of the businesses attracted to the area by the original developer and landowner partners.
We feel it is essential that everyone who lives, works and enjoys King’s Cross gets involved in all aspects of the area’s development because the long-term strength of their interest in the initiative will be the real test of success.
