General Electric strikes deal on Kings Cross Central move
US ENGINEERING giant General Electric has signed a deal to occupy a former Olympic landmark building in Argent’s huge King’s Cross central development scheme this summer.
The so-called German Gymnasium next to King’s Cross Station was built by the German gymnastic team in 1865 and was used to host events at the 1866 London Olympic games.
Roger Madelin, joint-chief executive of developer Argent, told delegates at property trade show MIPIM yesterday that GE planned to move in before the 2012 Olympics and use the 6,000 sq ft site to showcase their “ecomagination” portfolio – GE’s green energy technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels and smart grids.
GE will join Camden Council, which is moving its headquarters to a 150,000-square-foot building on the site. French bank BNP Paribas is also building a new office block on the site, and Google is also understood to have signed a memorandum of understanding to take up around 700,000 sq ft of space on the site.
The 67-acre site will also include up to 2,000 homes and a primary school. It will also have 500,000 sq ft of retail, which Madelin boasted would “outperform” other retail areas in London.