Argent hopes to have the first speculative office developments at its 67-acre King’s Cross Central scheme under way by the end of this year.
Speaking at the MIPIM property show in Cannes this morning, joint chief executive of Argent, David Partridge, said the office developments would be delivered in 2013-14 to capitalise on the “sweet spot” of lease expiries at that time.
He said that Argent, which will move to King’s Cross in 2012, had secured detailed planning consent for three office buildings, including a 158,000 sq ft block designed by Allies & Morrison, as well as one 56,000 sq ft office and one 123,000 sq ft offices. Infrastructure for all three will be put in at the same time as BNP Paribas Real Estate’s new 350,000 sq ft HQ.
Partridge said: “These office developments will hit the market when there will be a capacity squeeze and will give us a range of floor sizes from 15,000 sq ft to 29,000 sq ft, which will help us to attract a broad spectrum of occupiers.”
“By the time we’ve completed the next phase of development, we would have completed 80% of the infrastructure.”
james.buckley@estatesgazette.com
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