Boodle Hatfield advises on acquisition of major mixed-use King’s Cross development site

Boodle Hatfield, the leading real estate law firm, was the lead legal advisor on the provision of debt facilities to Groveworld, to enable them to acquire a multi-million pound major new mixed-used development scheme at 330 Grays Inn Road, King’s Cross.

Groveworld intends to apply for planning to develop a prominent mixed-use residential and commercial development of over 300,000 sq ft. The site has been used by the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital for over 140 years, but the hospital is now moving to a new purpose-built site in Fitzrovia.

The site benefits from excellent local, national and international transport links with both King’s Cross and St. Pancras International stations within a five minute walk. In recent years, the area around King’s Cross has undergone significant regeneration and is now set to be home to Google’s London headquarters.

Boodle Hatfield’s team was led by corporate and banking partner Rahul Thakrar and included associates, Fred Clark and Hilary Wilkinson.

“We are delighted to have worked on the acquisition of a major development site that will help continue the transformation of King’s Cross as a top destination to live and work. Speed and efficiency was key to this transaction and we are pleased to have been able to assist our client with completing one of their largest transactions to date” says Rahul Thakrar.

Doug King, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of ASK Partners, said: “The team at Boodle Hatfield has now acted on a number of transactions for ASK, with this being the largest and most complicated to date. Rahul and his team were instrumental in ensuring the transaction completed in accordance with a very tight timetable. ASK looks forward to working with Groveworld on this exciting potential development opportunity”

Ben Barbanel, Head of Debt Finance at OakNorth, says: “This was our largest transaction to date, but having worked with ASK and Boodle Hatfield before, we know they share our desire for speed and efficiency in every transaction – aspects that were vital for ensuring Groveworld could progress with this exciting project. We’re very much looking forward to working with the team to deliver a high-quality mixed-use scheme that will benefit businesses and residents in the King’s Cross community”