Curlew Capital wins planning approval for 123-bed student scheme in King's Cross
The Britannia Street Car Park plan includes a £5.7m payment towards affordable housing in Camden and a new community hall.
Real estate investment manager Curlew Capital has been granted planning permission for a purpose-built student accommodation scheme on the site of Britannia Street Car Park in King's Cross, London.
The approval, which remains subject to completion of a Section 106 agreement, will allow a vacant site dating from the 1970s to be redeveloped into 123 studios.
The design, by architecture practice Sheppard Robson, also features close to 2,800 sq ft of indoor and outdoor amenity space and a new community hall of 690 sq ft. Knight Frank prepared the planning application on Curlew Capital's behalf, working with Sheppard Robson, Camden Council, Network Rail and Transport for London.
As part of the scheme, Curlew Capital will make a £5.7m payment towards affordable housing in Camden and contribute £100,000 to improvements to the neighbouring Derby Lodge residents' courtyard.
Greg Fox, development director at Curlew Capital, said the site had been underused for many years and that constraints beneath it, including a Network Rail tunnel, had required three years of detailed work with Network Rail, TfL and the design team.
Chris Benham, head of planning, London, at Knight Frank, said the site had stayed undeveloped for more than 50 years, with complex engineering and planning constraints blocking earlier proposals. He said the scheme would "bring a long-vacant site back into use".
