A huge chunk of Europe’s biggest city-centre development, King’s Cross Central in London, has hit the market with an estimated £500m price tag.
The agent Savills and the investment bank Lazard are selling a 42.5 per cent stake on behalf of the Government and parcel delivery giant DHL in the 67-acre site around King’s Cross and St Pancras stations, whose occupiers include Google, the ad agency Havas and the property business of the French bank BNP Paribas.
When completed in five years’ time, the scheme could be worth £5bn. The Government holds a 36.5 per cent stake in the project but is selling it under plans announced in July’s Budget to cut the deficit.
DHL is also selling its 6 per cent stake. The other shareholders in the partnership are the estate’s manager, Argent King’s Cross and Hermes Investment Management with 32.5 per cent, and the pension fund AustralianSuper, which has 25 per cent. The Transport minister Robert Goodwill said: “We are selling an asset we don’t need and maximising its value to the taxpayer.”
The estate consists of offices and flats, as well as 10 new parks and squares, 20 streets and three bridges across Regent’s Canal. Its position at the heart of the rail and Tube transport network has appealed to commercial occupiers.
