AXA gets go-ahead for City of London office tower

AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets said on Tuesday that it has received the green light for its 22 Bishopsgate development project in the City of London which it intends to deliver with development partner Lipton Rogers.

AXA IM - Real Assets and Lipton Rogers intend to transform the site in the City of London into a 62-storey office tower offering a total of 194,000 m2. The new scheme will be tallest in the City of London and one of the tallest in the UK and the rest of Europe.

The building will also incorporate a substantial range of tenant amenities including restaurants, leisure space, auditorium, and medical facilities.

Anne Kavanagh, global head of Asset Management & Transactions at AXA IM - Real Assets, said: 'The City of London’s resolution to grant planning permission for 22 Bishopsgate marks a significant step forward in our plans for this exciting new development which will provide a high quality and environmentally friendly working environment for over 12,000 people in the heart of the City of London.'

AXA bought the asset - the former Pinnacle site - in February of this year on behalf of an international consortium of investors in an all-equity transaction.

Financial details were not disclosed, but the Financial Times put the purchase price at around £300 mln (€407 mln). AXA declined to identify the investors behind the deal, one of whom was quoted by the FT as being Singapore’s Temasek Holdings.

Unhappy history
The 64-floor Pinnacle was to be the tallest tower in the City of London and the second tallest in Europe when its plans were unveiled in the mid-2000s. The tower quickly earned the affectionate title 'Helter Skelter' due to its striking curved design.

But the tower with such high hopes was destined to become 'the tower that never was'. Construction began in 2008 during the Global Financial Crisis, and finance for the project ran out in 2012 after just seven floors had been built. This led to the stalled project earning yet another unofficial title, 'The Stump'.

AXA has simplified the original Pinnacle plans and replaced the Helter Skelter’s curved walls for a more conventional look. The first step of the construction involves the demolition of the stump of the Pinnacle to clear the area for the new tower.