LONDON | Project Compilation Thread

[Chelsea Spy]

Thanks for these interesting up-dates. I was in the City the other day and was astonished by all the construction. Heron and Leadenhall Towers are on their way... lots of activity in Canary Wharf also with the ground being prepared for the Riverside South towers and lots of other cranes elsewhere.

Personally, I'm not entirely convinced everything will be built... I suspect the Pinnacle may fail to materialise, but either way, London is set to have some of the world's most beautiful and impressive skyscrapers by the 2012 Olympics.

[jef]

some news:
- pre-planning consultation has been submitted for a mixed use development of 50 storeys (on 30 Marsh Wall) and 40 storeys (on 40 Marsh Wall). These sites are adjacent to The Landmark towers in Canary Wharf.
- planning application for the Quebec Building (Docklands) will be approved at next Strategic Development Committee.
- request for a scoping opinion related to the construction of a 44 storey building to provide 122,000 sqm at 1 Park Place, Canary Wharf.

[jef]

[jef]

Market reports: Canary Wharf Group's 25 Churchill Place / BP4 is top of the list for accomodating News Corp new 400,000 sq ft European HQ in London. Other sites shortlisted include Delancey's York House and P&O developments at Waterloo, and Ballymore's Arrowhead in Canary Wharf.

[AJphx]

Originally Posted by jef

Market reports: Canary Wharf Group's 25 Churchill Place / BP4 is top of the list for accomodating News Corp new 400,000 sq ft European HQ in London.

Is that one of those new midrise buildings near Barclays?

Also expected this quarter is the much-anticipated completion of JP Morgan and Hammerson’s deal to redevelop St Alphage House on London Wall into a 1m sq ft head office for the US investment bank.

is this project to renovate St Alphage House or demolish the tower and build something new there?

[jef]

Originally Posted by AJphx

Is that one of those new midrise buildings near Barclays?

It is the empty site between the new State Street HQ nearing completion and Mc GrawHill/BP midrise. The last site available at Churchill Place.

Originally Posted by AJphx

is this project to renovate St Alphage House or demolish the tower and build something new there?

In May last year Hammerson announced together with its partner the City Corporation of London, that it had entered into an exclusivity agreement with JPMorgan Chase to develop a new European headquarters building of around 100,000m2 on the site of St Alphage House, owned by the City Corporation of London. JPMorgan Chase will own the building.

[jef]

PW: The UK’s largest reinsurance broker, Benfield, is to take 130,000 sq ft of offices at 55 Bishopsgate. Benfield launched a search last summer for a new 150,000 sq ft City headquarters. It considered Leadenhall Building, St Botolphs House and Stanhope and 70 Mark Lane.
...
...
Also expected this quarter is the much-anticipated completion of JP Morgan and Hammerson’s deal to redevelop St Alphage House on London Wall into a 1m sq ft head office for the US investment bank.

Law firm Addleshaw Goddard is also expected to take 200,000 sq ft Milton Gate on Moor Lane at £53.50/sq ft on a 15-year lease.

CW: 300,000 sq ft are under offer. Citigroup release 150,000 sqft on the market.

JLL does not expect any other large deals to be completed this quarter.

CW: On Thursday 7th February 2008 topping out Ceremony at 15 Canada Square. The final beam will be erected on the 400,000 square feet tower.

The ceremony will be attended by 200 guests including executive management from KPMG and CWG, the construction team, as well as representatives of consultants and contractors. The last beam will be hoisted into place at the top of the 16 storey building after being signed by key people involved in the project.

I will be there . I will post the pics.

[wjfox2004]

Broadgate Tower is nearing completion. Here's a skyline view taken by 'Site' on SkyscraperCity -

[jef]

On a vote of 4 for and 2 against, the Strategic Dev. Committee resolved to grant planning permission for the construction of the Quebec Building / CW.

[jef]

KF: couple of recent deals in CW:
- the Financial Services Authority took 27,000 sq ft on level 18 of 1 Canada Square.
- Abbey Business Centres took level 37 at 1 Canada Square
- Moody's KMV is currently in advanced negotiations to take 137,000 sqft in 1 Canada Square (under offer).
- De Vere Conferencing completed on 34,700 sq ft at 1 Westferry Circus.

Demand for office space is expected in the coming months to be relatively subdued as recent financial results from a number of major banking sector occupiers in Docklands have shown losses and/or major write-downs.

[wjfox2004]

http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/n...in_croydon.php

Will country's tallest tower block be built in Croydon?

Exclusive By Graham Moody

The Croydon skyline may soon challenge the dizzy heights of New York after one developer revealed he is considering building the country's tallest tower block in the town centre.

The 60-storey building, which will be two floors higher than the country's current highest in Canary Wharf, would be part of a redevelopment of the Whitgift Centre and radically change a skyline already nicknamed mini-Manhattan.

Croydon's current tallest building is the not yet opened Altitude 25 in Fairfield Road, but at just 27 storeys it would be dwarfed by the new tower block.

Howard Holdings, which also developed Altitude 25, has been planning the shopping centre's regeneration for the past 18 months and expects to have a planning application in by the end of March.

The company bought the 11-acre, 93,000 sq ft, site in a joint venture with Anglo Irish Bank.

Chief executive Greg Coughlan said: "We are planning a complete redevelopment of the Whitgift Centre from the Marks and Spencer end. We're going to refurbish the whole lot and we're taking down a couple of the towers and we're going to put up two big towers. We are looking at a sixty-storey tower."

The building may though be too late to make it into the record books as the country's tallest, with plans already granted for the 72-storey Shard building in London Bridge.

Max Menon, chairman of Croydon Business Improvement District, welcomed the idea as good for the town's economy.

“We are planning a complete redevelopment of the Whitgift Centre from the Marks and Spencer end. We’re going to refurbish the whole lot and we’re taking down a couple of the towers and we’re going to put up two big towers. We are looking at a sixty-storey tower.”
Chief executive Greg Coughlan

"If it regenerates Croydon I don't see any issue with and it will bring plenty of benefits," he added. "If you build a 60-storey building you are going to have a lot of people working in Croydon and it's going to bring money into Croydon one-way or another."

Cabinet member for planning, Councillor Chris Wright, was among a group of delegates who took a model of the town centre to the world property market summit in Cannes last year and he feels that decision paid off.

He said: "We wouldn't rule out a tower of that size just for being 60-storeys but it needs to be in the right place for it to work. It just shows how well Croydon is thought of as people are coming to us from all over the place asking what they can do and where they can do it as they know Croydon is on the up and will be a superb place in the future."

Mr Coughlan was at a topping out ceremony for Altitude 25 last Wednesday, where it was revealed that two penthouses at the 82-metre tower had already been sold for more than £1million.

The penthouses, which are 2,113 sq ft and 1,390 sq ft, were sold as empty "shells", allowing the buyers to decide everything about the layout, including how many rooms they want.

[jef]

A couple of shots taken today in Canary Wharf Scroll -->>>

15 Canada Square - new KPMG eco-friendly European HQ; topping out ceremony was held today









30 The North Colonnade - new Fimalac London HQ. The three largest Basel 2 compliant rating companies -S&P, Moody's and Fitch - are now located in Canary Wharf (Moody's has confirmed today they are relocating from various locations in the City to 1CS).







5 Churchill Place - new Bear Stearns European HQ Interesting HOK-designed building. Cladding seems to be top notch.







25 Churchill Place Canary Wharf is proceeding with the staged construction. Basements are under construction. Maybe the future News Corp European HQ.





Pan Peninsula









Arrowhead. Little progress over the last couple of weeks. 1 or 2 workmen on site. The core should have topped out ... in Feb 08. To be honest I now doubt this would be spec. built under current downturn market conditions.



The Landmark Lot of activity on site. Full steam ahead.





Riverside South As expected the most exciting site with loads works underway. Dozens of workmen. I have a video of this. To be posted later on. No signs of excavation yet though. No barges whatsoever either. I would say basement works are likely to begin fall 2008 / early 2009.









Last pic, oh and it seems that Swan / Alberta House is u/c, anyone to confirm this?

[AJphx]

thanks for the answers and the construction photos Jef!

[jef]

LBTH mentions the request for scoping opinion in support of an application for 50 storey and 10 storey towers to provide 405 residential units with retail and leisure facilities at Innovation Centre / Canary Wharf (one og those sites between Exchange Tower and Wood Wharf, at the east of the estate).

[jef]

link to a short video showing works at Riverside South:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8Yt_-DqDQs

[jef]

The City:





One New Change (deep excavation, noisy):



Leadenhall/Willis/Loyds/St Mary Axe and around:

[jef]

News International:

News International is due to announce imminently the location of its new 300,000-400,000 sq ft European headquarters. This transaction is likely to be the largest letting of the year in Central London.

Some news regarding the sites that are understood to have been shortlisted:

Arrowhead: works seem to have been put on hold (tbc). According to some market reports this scheme lacks "prestige" for James Murdoch and does not offer the security barriers of adjacent developments in CW, such as 25 Churchill Place.

York House: Delancey is about to submit a revised planning application for a larger office building at York House, adjacent to Waterloo Station, which will total approximately 325,000 sq ft. Architect is Sheppard Robson. In November 2005, a resolution to grant planning consent was obtained for a 13 storeys 243,800 sq ft office building. The Section 106 Legal Agreement was completed in July 2007.

25 Churchill Place: basement works are underway. It is likely that the Board of the recently purchased Wall Street Journal is keen to move into CW business district.

[jef]

Letter of John Forrester, Head of London Markets, DTZ, in the FT today.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/eaf68af6-d...0779fd2ac.html

Landmarks are more crucial than ever for LondonPublished: February 12 2008 02:00 | Last updated: February 12 2008 02:00

From Mr John Forrester.

Sir, Critics who are too quick to dismiss plans for tall buildings in London miss a vital point: London can’t stand still, it needs development to develop (“Critics take aim at planning ‘land grab’”, February 7).

New York is concerned that it could lose out further to London because more than 60 per cent of Manhattan’s office stock is over 50 years old. If this is the case, then isn’t it a logical assumption that limiting development in the City of London could result in limiting London’s, and thereby the UK's, competitiveness?

The “Gherkin” quickly became a pin-up of the London property market – landmark of London’s status as a leading world economy. Buildings need to be designed to attract workers, as well as house them. Globalisation has made firms footloose so one could argue the likes of the “Cheese grater” and the “Shard of glass” are more important than ever before – particularly as towers are traditionally well let.

While no one could doubt the history and beauty of London’s historic landmarks, both heritage and commercial buildings like the Gherkin are themselves globally renowned for their iconic status. That is why cities regularly build skyscrapers to put them on the map – the Burj Dubai and Petronas Towers are two examples among many.

If London wants to continue to attract global corporations, which create jobs and drive the economy, then we need to design attractive new buildings in appropriate locations to accommodate them. Surely, part of what makes London so appealing is both its past and its potential?

[jef]

The view from Ontario Tower. Pic taken last year when visiting a flat to buy:

[Ducov]

Great updates jef, methinks it's time I got my arse back down to the city and canary wharf to see the progress.

As for the 60 story proposal for Croydon.... wow, that really would put the whole area in a different light.