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Islington Tribune - by PAUL KIELTHY
Published: 13 March 2009

King’s Cross ‘beats recession’

DEVELOPERS behind the huge King’s Cross regeneration project have insisted they will beat the gloomy economic conditions after backing the plans with £150million investment.
At a conference in Paris on Tuesday, King’s Cross Central Partnership chairman Sir David Clementi announced that a £100m deal with the University of the Arts, which will have a new campus on the 67-acre site, would be combined with the developers’ own cash to lay down £250m to start work on the site.
Under the development, 2,000 homes will be built as well as offices, including Sainsbury’s HQ, and shops on the old King’s Cross railway lands.
Sir David said: “King’s Cross Central is one of the few privately funded major developments making progress in these challenging times. This funding unlocks King’s Cross, providing the infrastructure for the university, and tees up further development opportunities such as Sainsbury’s, and the first 285 affordable homes.”
The deal comes after speculation last year that the shortage of bank lending, which has crippled the construction industry, had left developers short of £400m to tackle the first phase.
The consortium is made up of Argent, which is backed by the BT Pension Fund, London and Continental Railways, and DH Excel Supply.
A spokeswoman said this week that affordable housing was among the first raft of developments planned.
She added: “We submitted detailed designs for the first residential buildings to Camden Council only a few weeks ago.
“Subject to reserved matters approval, construction on these could start later in the year.”

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