Skyscrapers set to rise again in London

Grant Prior 14 years ago
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Construction work on delayed tower schemes in London worth more than £9bn could finally restart as developers chase rising rents and increasing demand for office space.

Work on a string of iconic skyscrapers across the capital came to a swift halt in 2008 when the credit crunch bit.

Gerald  Ronson was one of the few developers to keep building and the anticipated success of his Heron Tower scheme in the city has persuaded rivals to restart mothballed schemes.

Corporation of London planning officer Peter Rees said: “There has been an amazing change in the last three months in the Square Mile. We now only have  one project mothballed.

“All the others are now live, either because they have acquired a development partner or because they have basically pressed the button.

“I can envisage that everything with a planning permission will now be built. There has been a tidal wave of foreign money coming into the city.”

Skanska is currently completing the Heron Tower which will be finished next year while Mace is due to finish the £350m Shard near London Bridge in 2012 and Brookfield will complete the £575m Pinnacle on Bishopsgate in 2013.

Among the projects set to start is the £295m “Walkie Talkie” on Fenchurch Street where developer Land Securities is currently holding early contract talks with a number of tower specialists.

Developer the Beetham Organisation is also looking to start work next year on the £1bn residential and hotel Beetham Tower in Blackfriars and the Trinity towers in the Minories which will contain one million square feet of office space.

The only tower project still mothballed in the City of London is the Cheesegrater where demolition has been completed but the Bovis Lend Lease hoardings guard a deserted site.

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