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The joint venture, worth £500million, also has support from groups in China and Qatar and confirms rumours of a re-awakening of the project back in May. The work began today on the £500 million Walkie Talkie, Rafael Vinoly’s 37-storey tower in the City of London. Piling will begin later this week and completion to ground floor is planned for February 2012 with final completion expected in spring 2014.
Docklands estate owner Canary Wharf bought half of the 64,000m² tower 20 Fenchurch Street project for around £250 million and its parent company, Songbird, is aiming to attract investors from China Investment Corporation, Qatar Holdings and Morgan Stanley - three of its main shareholders.The project is expected to get under way by early 2011, as demand for London office space is reportedly high.
The Songbird trio will each take at least 10 per cent of the project, Land Securities will own half and the remainder will be held by Canary Wharf. The ground-breakling ceremony was conducted by the joint developers - George Iacobescu, chief executive of Canary Wharf Group, and Robert Noel, a managing director at Land Securities.
Known as the Walkie Talkie because of its concave shape, the building will be 150-metres high at 20 Fenchurch Street, earnt its nickname from its bulbous shape, with its upper storeys larger than the lower floors. Planning permission was granted in October 2009 but work slowed down because of the recession. Source
