Chapter 68 Differences in the renovation plan
“We encountered a little trouble, but it’s not a big problem. We have already expected these.”
For Barron question, Viscount Bute said with a relaxed expression.
In fact, the biggest trouble for the Argent Real Estate Group in the Kings Cross renovation project at this time comes from the local civil opposition group KXRLG (Kings Cross Railway Lands Group).
This King’s Cross renovation project led by Argent Real Estate Group is the largest urban renewal plan in the core area of London in the past 150 years. It is expected that the London government alone will invest up to 3 billion pounds in it. funds are used for this project.
As for the planning of this King's Cross district renovation plan, many stakeholders are involved - the Kenton District Government, developers, landowners, community groups, academic institutions, etc. are all involved in the formulation of the plan.
Basically the developer Argent Real Estate Group is also the largest land owner in this area, so the interests of the two parties are basically the same.
Other parties, including the KXCAAC organization, which is a historical site protection organization in the Kenton District, are representatives of academic institutions. Their demands for this King’s Cross renovation plan are that they believe that based on the King’s Cross Due to the industrialization background of the district, there are many industrial and historical buildings left in the area. In this King's Cross renovation plan, it is necessary to retain these buildings and only repair them, or to renovate part of them to retain their original shape.
This is similar to the protection of historical relics in China, but for Argent Real Estate Group, this problem is not a big problem, because most of the buildings they demarcate are not among the properties they hold. Within, it would be equivalent to Argent Real Estate Group taking funds from the Kenton District Government to help them repair and transform these buildings.
The only problem is that the abandoned gas storage tank that originally belonged to the Devonshire family was also required to retain its original shape as much as possible and undergo transformation.
This problem is not a big one. Argent Real Estate Group has selected a specialized design company through bidding, which will retain the external frames of the three gas storage tanks without changing the original shape, and transform the internal spaces of these three huge gas storage tanks into , transformed into high-end apartments, and finally covered with glass curtain walls on the outside of the building, which will also be very beautiful.
The only thing causing trouble for Argent Real Estate Group now is the KXRLG organization that represents the interests of local residents.
According to a survey by Argent Real Estate Group, King’s Cross is only 2-3 kilometers away from the core area of London. It can be said that it is generally within the “three rings” of Greater London and is far away from the Financial City and the Canaries. The pier is also not far away - in those two places, every inch of land is at a premium.
Therefore, the geographical location of King's Cross is still very advantageous.
So according to their research, based on London’s global city status and the geographical location of King’s Cross, office space is the most profitable type of space of all spaces.
Therefore, in the initial development plan of Argent Real Estate Group, 455,510 square meters of the total building development area of 853,195 square meters in King's Cross area is business office space. This plan is also based on their own interests, which allows them to obtain after the renovation is completed. Maximum economic benefits.
However, this plan has been opposed by the residents' group KXRLG. They believe that these high proportions of office space mainly serve the high-paid foreign elites, and the low-income and low-skilled workers in the area will Being ostracized and losing job opportunities.
Another point of conflict is the composition of the residential area - from the perspective of Argent Real Estate Group's interests, it is definitely hoped that more high-end residential areas can be built in King's Cross in the future, which will not only sell more residential areas High prices can change the local residential structure, thereby "driving out" the original low-income earners and attracting high-value consumers such as white-collar workers and wealthy people, which can also drive up the sales prices and rents of the business districts they build.
But this is also opposed by the KXELG organization.
They proposed that according to the Unitary Development Plan (UDP: Unitary Development Plan) previously released by the City of London, it stipulates the land use of 28 "Opportunity Development Zones" including King's Cross - Areas 40% of the internal residential area should be "affordable housing" for residents, that is, the selling price of this part of the housing should be enough for the original residents to afford it.
Among "affordable housing", at least 70% should be low-rent housing to meet the needs of low-income residents.
However, in the King's Cross renovation plan initially formulated by Argent Real Estate Group, the number of "affordable residences" only reached 50% of the UDP regulations, making the overall price of the renovated residences far beyond the financial affordability of local residents. ability.
Based on the two points mentioned above, the residents' group KXELG believes that the original renovation plan for King's Cross has a tendency to gentrify the area.
When companies settle in, the middle class moves in, and high-end consumer places are built, King's Cross will no longer be suitable for lower-income Aboriginal people to live, and they will be forced to move to the edge of the city or to the edge of the city. for poor areas.
The final contradiction is that when Argent Real Estate Group took the lead in the King's Cross renovation plan, it also gained a certain degree of planning flexibility. This flexibility lies in the fact that in the King's Cross regeneration plan, the official planning document only stipulates an upper limit for the area of each land use and does not give a specific value.
This allows Argent Real Estate Group to adjust its development plan at any time according to market fluctuations.
This planning flexibility maximizes the long-term profits of the developer Argent Real Estate Group.
However, the KCRLG organization believes that the definition and control of flexibility are entirely led by developers, and random changes in environment and functions are more of an uncertainty factor for local residents, seriously affecting their daily lives. .
So after Argent Property Group submitted its initial plan to the Kenton District Council, that plan was opposed by the KCRLG organization and ultimately failed.
"During this period, the district government has already held a hearing..."
"What is the result?"
Viscount Butt looked at Barron and shook his head. :
“We had a big fight with the mob organization at that hearing, but in the end there was no result. This kind of thing is definitely not something that can be decided in one or two hearings. Our relationship , to ensure that the district government is leaning towards us."
He said with disdain:
"If the poor people are still there in King's Cross after the renovation, then what's the point of the renovation? The district government can also see this, so it is imperative to upgrade the residential structure there. But things can’t be done too much..."
"Wait, your lord..."
Barron thought about what he just said and suddenly realized:
"Did you anticipate this when you first submitted the plan? So the design plan at that time was not the final plan, it was just a smoke bomb."
"Bingo, Your Highness the Duke, you His wisdom is surprising..."
Viscount Bute applauded and said:
"Indeed, after all, we have had experience with many urban renewal plans before, including Canary Wharf, so when we submitted the first plan, The area of office space and luxury residences has been increased to cater for those people.”
Indeed, as Viscount Bute said, in the renovation plan of King’s Cross, the Kenton District Government itself is the same. Argent Real Estate Group has a tacit understanding - then again, if you cannot represent the interests of our capital, how can you councilors continue to do so.
Even in terms of political performance, if the "poor people" who only cause trouble are retained, how can it be possible to upgrade the residential structure and introduce more elite talents to make Kenton District develop faster?
Then again, it is also a ballot, and the demands of the poor will be too much trouble.
However, superficial work must be done. After several hearings, we will reach a consensus with the other party that "office space should be reduced to a reasonable proportion."
At that time, as long as the negotiation results do not provide data indicators for the reduction of office space, they will change from the original renovation plan with an extremely high proportion of office areas and high-end residences to the renovation plan they are planning to implement. If we slightly reduce the proportion of these high-end areas, and at the same time use government funding to improve some living facilities for local residents, then this matter will stop here.
The data during the new book period is related to subsequent recommendations, so follow-up reading is very important. I beg you not to keep it all the time. If you feel it is okay, read it every day to help increase follow-up reading. Thank you very much.
(End of this chapter)