Movies premiere at King’s Cross

King's-Cross-Central-N1A flagship cinema is at the heart of the next major phase of development at King’s Cross Central.

The Argent-led consortium behind the regeneration of the 67-acre N1 site has drawn up Duggan Morris-designed plans for the abandoned former Sainsbury’s HQ plot.

Sainsbury’s had been in on-off talks to take a 250,000 sq ft office at the major London regeneration scheme between 2007 and 2011 before walking away from its plans. Various other uses for the site have been mooted since.

However, proposals are soon to be submitted for two adjoining blocks totalling 200,000 sq ft and featuring the area’s first new cinema in 16 years. Offices and shops will also be included.
The move forms part of the consortium’s plans to turn the regeneration area once known as a red-light district into a flagship office and leisure hotspot.

The cinema will join trendy tenants such as Jamie Oliver and restaurant groups Caravan, Dishoom and D&D, which have committed to the site.

Footfall will also come from leisure events hosted at King’s Cross Central. Previous initiatives have included a roller disco and large film screens to show international tennis tournament Wimbledon.

Office agents in the area said an increased leisure element would also boost office rents and make the area even more attractive to businesses wanting HQs.

Ashley Goodman, director at King’s Cross specialist Richard Susskind & Company, said: “Since the start of the year enquiries for offices have increased tenfold. This will only increase when more leisure operators arrive, making King’s Cross a great environment to work in.

“It just reinforces that the former red-light reputation is now just history.”

All of the office space at Pancras Square is already let to tenants including Louis Vuitton UK and Google.

Plans for the final 235,202 sq ft speculative office block at Four Pancras Square (pictured) were due to be approved this week.

joanna.bourke@estatesgazette.com