AXA Real Estate clients have rubber-stamped a deal to revive a London office scheme halted by the recession.

The investment manager said a consortium of international investors will back the scheme three years after it was mothballed.

Around £400m (€542m) had reportedly been invested in the project by Brookfield Asset Management, which settled a legal case with the scheme’s former owners in 2013.

Brookfield had previously signed a £575m building contract for what would have been a 63-storey tower.

AXA Real Estate said it has now agreed a new building partnership with developer Lipton Rogers Developments to begin work on the site, at 22 Bishopsgate, later this year.

Anne Kavanagh, global head of asset management and transactions at AXA Real Estate, said the project has “enormous potential”.

“The acquisition represents a significant opportunity to purchase a prime office development site at one of the most desirable office locations in the City of London,” Kavanagh said.

The 1m sq ft scheme, first proposed in 2001, will be completed in late 2018.