News
23 July 2010
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| The highest tower will reach almost 205 metres |
A SKYSCRAPER that will become one of London's biggest buildings has finally been given the go-ahead to be started.
Controversy and complications have dogged the plans for the Heron Quays West site at Canary Wharf for almost 10 years.
Permission was granted in 2008 for three buildings that would eventually create almost 8,000 jobs - but progress was halted by Michael Gross and Michael Hunt, owners of the final two 'red huts' on Heron Quays.
They had turned down Canary Wharf's offer of £5 million each for their land and objected when Tower Hamlets Council ordered them to sell.
Demanding a total of £50 million, they took the council to a public inquiry last year - but The Docklands can now reveal they have dropped their opposition.
A spokesman for the owners said: "We withdrew our objections to the CPO and agreed terms of a sale to Canary Wharf which are confidential."
Canary Wharf Group is thought to be delighted to have brought the matter to a close, having first started to negotiate for the land back in 2001.
The public inquiry had seen Canary Wharf Group accuse the landowners of "holding them to ransom", while the council denied it was the "poodle" of Canary Wharf after accepting a £10 million offer to improve community facilities.
A date for building work to be start has not been set yet, but the new owners will be desperate to complete the three-building development.
The buildings will each be of 12, 21 and 31 storeys, with the highest reaching almost 205 metres. The likes of Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and UBS were all mentioned at the inquiry as potential tenants.
The development will include the relocation of an existing canal and a new shopping development and plaza.