Berkeley has bought the seven acre site from receiver BNP Paribas Real Estate.

It has planning consent for 754 homes, 601 student beds, a 337-bedroom hotel and 107,640 sq ft of office and retail space.

The Goodman’s Field site is next to Berkeley’s existing 294-flat City Quarter scheme, which it developed in 2007.

BNP Paribas Real Estate was appointed as receiver on the scheme in January, after Lloyds Banking Group pulled the plug on Omega Land, a joint venture between Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds and developer Exemplar.

The site was originally a Royal Bank of Scotland cheque-clearing centre and has stood empty since 2005 when redevelopment plans were first mooted.

John F Hunt was originally appointed to carry-out demolition of the massive brick structure but work was suspended at the soft-stripping stage.

The start of construction at Goodman’s Field will also coincide with Barratt’s plans for a 27 storey residential tower in the adjacent Alie Street worth £100m.