Axa Investment Managers-Real Assets, the property unit of Europe's largest insurer, won approval from the city of London borough to develop an office tower at 22 Bishopsgate near the skyscrapers nicknamed The Cheesegrater and The Gherkin.
The 62-story building will have more than 1.4 million square feet of workspace, shops and restaurants as well as a public viewing gallery at the top. It will be developed on the site of the failed Pinnacle tower, which was halted in 2012, and is due to be completed in 2018.
Developers started work on 13 office buildings in the borough in the past six months, the most since 2012, as falling vacancy rates and rising rents make construction more attractive, Deloitte LLP said last week. In 2018, central London developers are to deliver the highest amount of office space in 26 years, the report said.
The Axa venture bought the site for about $456 million, a person with knowledge of the matter said in February.
SundayMonday Business on 11/22/2015