In a significant vote of confidence in the City, M&G Prudential has salvaged the stalled scheme with plans to invest £875m to buy and build on the site.

Contractor Mace has been in the frame to build the 900,000 sq ft project nicknamed Gotham City for more than 12 months.

Construction will now start early in 2020 once Keltbray completes clearing the key Leadenhall Triangle site to allow building of two stepped towers of 14 and 34 storeys.

The site was sold by Alberta Investment Management Corporation and Nuveen Real Estate, which will continue as development manager.

The new buildings’ carbon emissions will be 30% below current regulations and are expected to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating.

Groundfloor business lounge

Tony Brown, global head of M&G Real Estate, said: “London’s commercial property market currently offers good value relative to other capital cities such as Paris and Tokyo, partly due to Brexit-related uncertainty.”

“As there are a limited number of developments underway in London, we expect high-quality office space like this with an emphasis on green credentials and employee well-being to be in demand from occupiers when the scheme is completed in four years.”