The man behind the transformation of London’s King’s Cross is joining British Land to lead the development of its 46-acre Canada Water, SE16, site.
Roger Madelin, former chief executive of Argent and lead on its regeneration of the 67-acre, £2bn King’s Cross, N1, project, will join BL in February next year as head of Canada Water after 29 years at Argent. Reporting to chief executive Chris Grigg, he will sit on the REIT’s executive committee and will be responsible for creating a new district at Canada Water.
Nigel Webb remains head of development.
BL completed its assembly of the site in March with the £135m purchase of Surrey Quays leisure park from Aviva Investors. The site, which extends to 5.5m sq ft, also includes Surrey Quays shopping centre and Harmsworth Quays, the former Daily Mail General Trust printworks.
Architect Allies & Morrison, which worked with Madelin on both Brindleyplace in Birmingham and King’s Cross, is working up a masterplan for the site that could deliver a 7m sq ft new town centre.
BL chief executive Chris Grigg said: “If you think about contiguous ownership, a site like this is very rare in London. We have an opportunity to create a genuinely new town centre. British Land has considerable development expertise but we saw an opportunity to work with someone who has unparalleled expertise and experience in large-scale regeneration.”
Madelin said: “The combination of the physical opportunity at Canada Water, working with British Land and with the thoughtful and ambitious London borough of Southwark was an opportunity too exciting to turn down.”
“King’s Cross was always a no-brainer as it is the most accessible place in the world,” he added. “Canada Water is accessible, but it is a very different kind of place. And it is because it is not a complete no-brainer that makes it exciting. It’s about what you can do there that will make it an amazing place.”
Madelin in a minute
Roger Madelin joined Argent in 1987 and became a director a year later. In 1997 he was made chief executive, a position he held until 2012 when Argent restructured as an LLP. Madelin remained a partner but reduced his involvement to three days a week.
During his career at Argent, Madelin was directly responsible for developments in the Thames Valley, Manchester, the City and Brindleyplace in Birmingham. Since 2000 he has led the Argent team bringing forward the regeneration of King’s Cross.
He will remain as a consultant at King’s Cross, working one day a fortnight on the Aga Khan and Jamie Oliver projects.
The opportunity
At 46 acres, the Canada Water site is one of the largest in London. By comparison, Canary Wharf’s nearby Wood Wharf.
The assembly of the site by British Land has unlocked a regeneration that could create some 7m sq ft of development, including thousands of homes, a university campus, offices and shops.
The area has already attracted the University of New York, which is to establish a new Centre for Urban Science and Progress at Canada Water, while Shard developer Sellar Property has teamed up with Notting Hill Housing to deliver a 1.5m sq ft residential-led scheme on a neighbouring site.
