Chapter 19 Conjoined Triplets

After England defeated Argentina 1-0, Barron could even faintly hear cheers coming from the street outside the window.

After all, this game greatly increased England's chances of qualifying in the World Cup group stage.

At the same time, this game also made Barron's funds exceed 10 million pounds in one fell swoop! 

After this game, he met the manager of the family trust fund again in the study of his London apartment-Yulia Moore.

In fact, before accepting Viscount Bute's invitation to attend the banquet that day, Barron had already spoken with Julia on the phone to discuss the plot of land next to King's Cross Station.

In the end, he decided to find out what purchase price Viscount Bute would offer.

"Eight million pounds?"

After Barron told Yulia about Viscount Bute's plan and offer, she thought for a moment and said:

"Although this price is slightly different from the price we assessed, it is not too far off."

"Oh? How did you evaluate it at the beginning?"

"Because Viscount Bute once mentioned to His Excellency the Duke about jointly transforming and developing the land, we hired a relevant agency to appraise it, and the valuation at the time was 9 million pounds."

Yulia had already had her doubts about Barron's question. She took out a document from her briefcase and handed it to him, and continued, 

"It's just that an accident happened later, which interrupted the plan this time, and the two sides did not reach a formal agreement."

Barron looked through the documents that Yulia brought, and it was indeed an assessment report on the gas tank site covering an area of ​​approximately 6 hectares near King's Cross Station.

The report was signed at the end of April this year. At that time, the appraisal agency made a comprehensive adjustment based on the recent successful sales and listing prices of the surrounding areas of the land, combined with the volatility coefficient of land prices in London in recent years and the industrial properties of the land, and finally set the valuation at 9 million pounds.

"So even at this valuation, Ian still lowered the price..."

Yulia nodded to Barron's statement: 

"That's for sure. Even if there are differences in valuations between different institutions, they won't be too different. However, considering the well-known financial crisis of our Duke of Devonshire's family, if he offers a cash payment, he will naturally lower the price accordingly..."

"So even if we raise the price, it won't be much higher. At most we can raise it by 300,000 or 400,000 pounds."

"Yes, Your Excellency. After all, since last year, affected by the world economic situation, the land price in London has dropped slightly after two years of growth, and the future outlook is not very optimistic."

In fact, when Viscount Bute said the price of "8 million pounds" yesterday, Barron knew in his heart that this price must have corresponding reasons to support it, and it would not be too outrageous compared to the actual price.

Because things like land prices, even if there are differences, are generally reasonable and will only differ within an approximate range.

But even so, Barron still suspected that Viscount Bute must have other purposes that prompted him to buy the land from the Duke of Devonshire's family.

Otherwise, if he ends up buying the land with cash at a price slightly lower than the market price, is that really an act of kindness to help him solve his family's financial crisis?

Moreover, it is very likely that he had launched a public opinion offensive against his family's financial crisis before this...

"Ms. Moore, I want to go to the gas tank near King's Cross Station and have a look..."

King's Cross Station can be said to be located in the heart of London, and the City Hall is right next to it.

When the Rolls-Royce stopped at one side of the station, Barron and Yulia could see three huge gas tanks standing on the Regent River nearby. Those gas tanks and a piece of land nearby belonged to the Duke of Devonshire! 

"The history of these gas tanks can be traced back to the 1860s. They can be said to be relics of the Victorian era..."

Standing next to Barron, Yulia briefly introduced him:

"However, these gas tanks have long been abandoned because they are too huge. There are three gas tanks with the same specifications, and each is nearly fifty meters high... It is time-consuming and laborious to dismantle them, so they have been left until now. Of course, this is also related to some special conditions of this block..."

In fact, although many people may not have seen King's Cross Station in person, they are definitely not unfamiliar with it, because in the movie "Harry Potter" released last year, the filming location of Platform 9, the starting point for Harry Potter's journey to Hogwarts, was King's Cross Station.

It can be said that since then, many loyal fans of this series of movies have come here to check in, and King's Cross Station has also become a famous landmark in London.

In 1830, a statue of King George IV, who was known for his absurdities, was erected at the intersection of Battle Bridge.

The statue caused people to laugh and jokingly call its location "King's Cross"...

The statue was removed in 1842, but the area's new name, King's Cross, remained.

The London terminus was developed by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) between 1849 and 1852.

King's Cross Station opened in 1852, replacing the temporary passenger station to solve traffic problems on the main line.

By 1860, King's Cross had developed rapidly as it became an important transportation hub.

It was also during that period that gas lighting became popular, and King's Cross became the supply center for piped gas in London. The three huge gas tanks nearby began to appear during this period.

It can be seen that these three huge gas tanks are not only exactly the same in appearance, but also have the same internal beam frame and rivet inlay method. They are connected by a large common roof. Therefore, since the Victorian era, they have been called "Siamese triplets".

After World War II, Britain's economy began to deindustrialize, transforming and upgrading from manufacturing to service industries. Road transportation gradually replaced rail transportation, and more and more abandoned industrial land appeared across Britain, especially in the capital London!

Including King's Cross Station and surrounding areas, which are mainly engaged in transportation, logistics and industry. The canals and factories around King's Cross Station gradually fell into decline after they ceased operations.

By the 1980s and 1990s, King's Cross had firmly established itself as one of the ten poorest boroughs in London, becoming one of the areas with the lowest commercial office rents in central London.

There are drugs, prostitutes, low-end nightclubs and erotic dance clubs everywhere.

To this day, the situation here has not changed much, which is one of the important reasons why the gas tank land owned by the Duke of Devonshire has not been developed.

However, as Yulia introduced, Barron's eyes slowly swept over the gas tanks, the Regent River, King's Cross Station behind him, and the surrounding buildings. His brows were slightly furrowed, and a thoughtful look appeared on his face...

He seems to have found the most critical thread that runs through all these things!