EMERGING LONDON 2018

At a glance – BRENT CROSS SOUTH Argent Related is working in joint venture with Barnet council to develop a new town centre on 180 acres including 6,700 new homes, up to 4 million sq ft of office space (approximately 25,000 jobs) and 465,000 sq ft of retail and leisure uses, including a new High Street and a 50-acre park. The project will be phased over 15+ years with construction expected to start in 2019. spaces and the successful management of them, including a dynamic programme of events and activities that keep people coming back. So, ground floor also includes public realm. Yes, it’s important that we do not separate things out. When you’re walking down the street, the public spaces, and the ground floor uses that surround them, deliver a connected experience, not a series of separate ones. We have to invest early in the public spaces to shape early perceptions of what the place will become and then deliver great active uses in the buildings to complement them. If you get the ground floor experience right then you put yourself in a much better position to succeed. Nick Searl What is your favourite part of London? Having participated in the transformation, there can only be one for me: it’s got to be King’s Cross. Do you have a personal ‘hidden London’ location you’d like to share? I love the layers of history at St Pancras Old Church that stretch back at least 1,000 years. Best location in London to shop for quirky gifts? I love the Southbank and Borough Market area. Love Tate Modern and there’s still lots to find if you get off the beaten track a bit Best location in London to eat? I’m a big Soho fan – I love all the little back streets and restaurants. There’s still a quirkiness today even though Soho has changed a lot. Parts of London you’d like to explore more and why? East London – I rarely get to go there, but it’s fascinating and so much has happened there. What is your favoured form of transport around the capital? Either bus or push bike (Santander Cycle (a.k.a. Boris bike!)). In other words, you won’t be competing for retail spend. Not directly no. We need to offer something that complements the shopping centre experience. A big part of that may actually be the play and sport facilities that we will be bringing forward on the 50 acre playing fields. For us it’s about providingmultiple experiences and amenities with a variety of associated shopping, eating and drinking offers to go with them. Going head to head with the shopping centre for the same spend probably wouldn’t be a very wisemove on our part. That sounds exciting. We are really excited about it. For someone such as myself working in property, it is rare to be given the opportunity to plan and develop a significant piece of city. After King’s Cross this is the second time around and it’s something that we are really enjoying getting to grips with. I won’t pretend it’s easy, but it is hugely rewarding. I also think it is exciting for this part of London. Getting this right will have a far reaching and long term positive impact on this part of our city. How quickly will the retail and leisure elements come through? As always with schemes of this scale it will be phased over time. Having said that we want to start delivering the new amenity as quickly as possible. The new Brent Cross West Thameslink station that forms part of the development is due to open inMay 2022, and we certainly have ambitions to have shops, restaurants and leisure facilities open by this time – and in some cases before. Argent is synonymous with successful urban regeneration, from Birmingham’s Brindleyplace to London’s King’s Cross. Are there key learnings from these schemes you can apply to Brent Cross South? Very much so. The biggest lesson is to focus relentlessly on the ground floor experience. If you get that right then you put yourself in a much better position to succeed with all the other elements of the scheme. We have also learnt lessons about the importance of great public You will also be delivering around 6,700 homes. Is that a daunting prospect? Like all big, daunting tasks, it becomes less daunting when you break it down into its component parts. We are actually very excited by the opportunity and variety that this scale presents. From a residential perspective, Argent Related brings together Argent’s local knowledge and UK track record with homes for sale with Related’s experience as the pre-eminent developer and manager of rental homes in the US. We think that’s a pretty formidable combination. Talking of partnerships, Argent Related is in a joint venture with the local authority at Brent Cross South: Barnet Council. Correct, Argent Related has entered into a joint venture with Barnet Council and that joint venture company will be the master developer, delivering all of the key infrastructure and public spaces. Separately to this, Argent Related will also be the plot developer. Being on both sides of the development process means that we have to think holistically about the way the whole place works from the outset and I think this focus will have long term beneficial impact. Hopefully history will look back on your development favourably! It’s a big responsibility to take on schemes like this. Buildings tend to come and go, but the streets, squares and parks will be there in many hundreds of years to come. This urban planning is the long term legacy and we want what we do to have a positive impact for many years to come. How does it feel to be working on Brent Cross South? Working on King’s Cross has been the greatest privilege of my career. Now to be given an opportunity to take that experience, all those learnings, and build a whole new town centre at Brent Cross South is utterly extraordinary. We have a fantastic team of people working on it, many of whom have also devoted years of their career to King’s Cross, and I feel genuinely lucky to be working with them every day. www.brentcrosssouth.co.uk MY LONDON 53 52 CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD  | EMERGING LONDON SPOTLIGHT ON BRENT CROSS SOUTH