Barclays backs King’s Cross with £215m facility

Barclays has provided a £215m development and refinancing facility to King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership, part of which will be used to develop further retail, leisure, residential and office space at the 67-acre King’s Cross Central site.

The £215m facility, comprised of two separate loans, covers various assets across the estate. Most of the new development secured by the loans is retail and leisure, including a Waitrose supermarket and a number of restaurants.

The Guardian Media Group’s ‘Living Newspaper’ or ‘Guardian Space’, where the newspaper will host forums and other events for its members, will also begin development; and a residential component is part of the Gasholders triplet, north of Regent’s Canal.

The facility will also refinance the offices in the scheme’s Western Transit Shed. The 55,000 sq ft completed Western Transit Shed, located north of Regent’s Canal between Handyside Street and Granary Square, is fully let to Argent LLP, Hoare Lea and Zone.

It is the second substantial facility from Barclays to King’s Cross. The bank provided working capital of £75m in 2013 to fund infrastructure, offices and retail at the Western Transit Shed.

The new development loan is another score for King’s Cross Central, which also secured development financing from Royal Bank of Scotland in February. RBS supplied £100m for the development of Three and Four Pancras Square office buildings.

Barclays was also one of a number of banks including Deutsche Postbank and HSBC that provided £250m of funding to King’s Cross Central last year. Further financings at the scheme are expected to be closed in the coming weeks.

King’s Cross Central will eventually comprise of 50 new buildings, 2,000 new homes, 20 new streets and 10 public squares. Up to 30,000 people will be working or living at the site by the end of next year.

King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership is the single land owner of the site and is made up of developer Argent, London & Continental Railways and DHL.

Last week, the government announced London & Continental Railways would put its stake in the redevelopment of King’s Cross up for sale. Its 31.5% stake is valued at £345m.