After returning to the apartment, Barron met Yulia.
"What did you gain from going to Kenton District Hall?"
"On your behalf, I met with the mayor. After I told him that we had received the news that King's Cross would undergo an overall renovation, he did not deny it directly. Instead, he said that the plan had not been finally approved, and that before that, a consultation meeting would be held with the participation of all relevant representatives..."
King's Cross is located in the central area of Camden, one of the 33 administrative districts of Greater London.
Here, the head of the administrative district is also called the "mayor", which is somewhat similar to the district head in China.
Camden has always been a relatively underdeveloped area in London. At the end of the last century, 24 of the top 100 "poor residential areas" in London were in King's Cross!
According to data from 2001, compared with the average unemployment rate of 4% in London, the unemployment rate in Camden was as high as 7%.
In terms of the material environment, King's Cross is an industrial "brownfield" with a large number of industrial relics that need to be transformed and a serious lack of public space.
Moreover, the circulation in front of the two railway stations is chaotic, which affects their efficiency as transportation hubs.
Therefore, from the perspective of the development of the entire region, King's Cross, as the center of Camden, is increasingly becoming an important global financial center in London. Against the backdrop of the growing gap in housing and office buildings, large-scale comprehensive management of King's Cross is a necessary prerequisite for the development of Camden.
After searching a lot of information and confirming this point, Yulia agreed with Barron's judgment for the first time and began to actively assist him in the layout of the land for the "conjoined triplets" gas tanks.
"What is your conclusion, Ms. Moore?"
"My initial feeling is that Kenton is definitely developing a plan for King's Cross, but it's not yet time to finalize it. Even if they have made up their minds, there are still many procedures to go through before the final plan is finalized. However, in addition to finding out more information, we also need some clearer signals. But I'm afraid that by that time, this news will no longer be a secret in certain circles."
Indeed, if Barron's purpose this time is just to develop his own land, then there is actually no need for further action, and he just needs to wait for the final announcement.
But Barron's ambition does not stop there. You know, London is the core location of Britain, but as the earliest industrialized country, it is not so easy to acquire land in London so far.
The land in London owned by the Duke of Westminster's family is enough to make anyone drool.
However, at this time, if one wanted to get into real estate development, the most prosperous areas of London were already so crowded that there was no room for one - and the Camden area, or more precisely the King's Cross area in its center, was relatively underdeveloped and full of "slums", so the big real estate developers were not very enthusiastic about the development here.
There was once a saying among the people of London: Everyone only passes by King's Cross, but never goes to King's Cross.
This shows how bad the environment was here at that time.
But Barron knew that when he came here in his previous life, King's Cross had undergone tremendous changes compared to now, especially the CBD area there, which has become London's emerging commercial center. Just as he could remember, the British headquarters of well-known companies such as Google, Facebook, Louis Vuitton and Nike were there.
Therefore, for Barron at this time, if he wants to get a share of the real estate industry in London, a global financial center where housing prices will continue to rise in the next decade or so, then getting as many plots of land as possible in King's Cross, which are much cheaper than other prosperous areas at this time, and participating in the entire King's Cross renovation plan, is his best opportunity in recent years.
"Are there any results regarding the situation of the nearby plots of land?"
"I looked up information about the plots of land around King's Cross Station. After investigation, I found that there is a warehouse area of about 3 hectares to the west of our family's gas tank. The owner was changed a month and a half ago. The company that currently owns this plot of land is the real estate company of Viscount Bute."
Yulia took out a map of the area near King's Cross and introduced the marked plots of land.
That plot of land is right next to the gas tank plot, on its west side.
She slid her finger across the map again, landing on a mark on the south side of the gas tank plot, and continued,
"The other plots of land have not been changed, and should have nothing to do with Viscount Bute. However, this plot of land, covering an area of about 2 hectares, was traded just a month ago. The current owner is another company, but the owner of this company also belongs to the Bute family."
After Yulia's introduction and looking at the markings on the map, Barron understood.
No wonder Viscount Bute was so interested in the land where their family's abandoned gas tank was located. It turned out that he had now acquired at least two plots of land in King's Cross, and the "conjoined triplets" were located right between the two plots of land.
If he bought the land owned by his family, Viscount Butt would be able to connect the two plots of land he had previously acquired, thus creating a huge plot of land totaling 11.5 hectares, which could be used for more types of planning to achieve maximum commercial benefits.
But if he cannot get this land, apart from his two smaller plots of land, he will have fewer planning options. On the other hand, if the abandoned gas tank land is not developed in time, it will have a great negative impact on the value of his land after it is built. However, if the Cavendish family develops it on their own or cooperates with others, although it will be relatively more beneficial to Viscount Bute, there is also the possibility that the other party's construction will eventually benefit the Cavendish family in vain.
At this moment, Barron was lost in memory… In this area of the warehouse, when he came to King's Cross Station in his previous life, there seemed to be a hotel there, which looked quite luxurious…
The other piece of land is next to a park. It seems to be a shopping and leisure and entertainment complex on the Regent River. Its shape is very unique.
After confirming this, Barron raised his head, looked at Yulia, and said:
"Ms. Moore, please continue to investigate other plots of land in King's Cross to see if there are any willing to sell them, and give a rough estimate of their value. I hope to complete this as soon as possible."
"That's no problem, I'll finish it as soon as possible..."
Yulia hesitated for a moment and said:
"But Your Highness, the current renovation plan for King's Cross is just our guess. Not to mention that there may not be suitable plots of land for sale there, even if there are, there are still risks. If the renovation plan is not passed within a few years, it will be difficult to withdraw funds. Moreover, our current funds..."
"I told you, Ms. Moore, you should give me more trust."
Facing Yulia at this moment, Barron's face was full of confidence:
"As for the funds, have you forgotten our bet? If I am not sure, I will not humiliate myself."