LONDON | Heron Tower | 807 FT / 246 M | 47 FLOORS | T/O

[wjfox2004]

I am proud to report that - after a 5 year wait - demolition work has finally started on the site of the Heron Tower in London's financial district. At nearly 800ft, it's set to become the UK's tallest building, even overtaking 1 Canada Square by pinnacle height.

The architects are Kohn Pederson Fox. Completion is scheduled for 2010. Here are some renderings

[James2390]

I like it, but it's sort of blocky and fat.

[Visiteur]

Strange, why did I think this was to be taller? I though this was ~280 meters in height...oh well. The light, airy look is appreciated.

[Fabb]

Good !
But I thought that the mayor wanted something taller for this site.

[wjfox2004]

Originally Posted by Visiteur

Strange, why did I think this was to be taller? I though this was ~280 meters in height...oh well. The light, airy look is appreciated.

You're probably thinking of the Bishopsgate Tower which is further south.

[ltsmotorsport]

Great looking building.

[WonderlandPark]

Derivitave or Rogers or Foster, but KPF does a nice job here.

[STR]

Originally Posted by wjfox2004

Interesting, at least 3 double deck glass elevators.

[Stu]

The corner spire look is a bit over used but it's a decent design.

[RafflesCity]

An elegant design and it should look quite nice with the crown and spire lit up at night.

But 1 Canada Square definitely has more presence

[Dale]

What's the rush on this one ?

[Jonas]

This is good, if the completeion is really scheduled for 2010 we should expect this one start rising at some point in 2007.
P.S. design is so R.Rogers, I can't believe it's not him!

[wjfox2004]

Looks like this WILL be built after all!

From today's Property Week -



Heron on brink of funding coup for £500m tower
and £95m Barcelona leisure sale

24.11.2006
By Laura Chesters, Deirdre Hipwell, Daniel Thomas

Gerald Ronson’s Heron International is poised to seal a double international investment triumph.

In London, Heron has secured equity funding for the £500m, ‘six-star’ Heron Tower in the City from the State of Oman and corporate clients of Strategic Real Estate Investors.

The developer has also agreed a deal with Australian investment firm Babcock & Brown to sell Heron City in Barcelona, its flagship leisure and retail scheme, for around €140m (£95m).

At the Heron tower in the City, Heron is expected to invest £44m of its own money and has secured debt finance.

It had been in talks with three other global institutions but chose the State of Oman and clients of StratReal.

The funding and the debt package for the 451,474 sq ft (41,943 sq m) development is a coup for Ronson and Heron. Sceptics had suggested that it would struggle to get the tower off the ground. However, it will now be built to coincide with a strong forecast leasing market towards the end of the decade.

The oil-rich gulf state of Oman made its largest UK property purchase a year ago when it bought Hines’ 99 Queen Victoria Street office building for £65m. Hines’ then UK chief Philip Lewis is now a director at Heron.

The Heron tower will be funded through the Heron Tower Jersey Property Unit Trust, an offshore limited partnership in which the parties will hold equity stakes.

In Barcelona, Heron City is a three-storey amphitheatre-style scheme comprising 301,390 sq ft (28,000 sq m) of leisure and 64,585 sq ft (6,000 sq m) of factory outlet space. It is on the Meridiana – an arterial road passing through Barcelona.

The scheme is likely to be bought by the new Babcock & Brown GPT European Retail Fund, which launched a €400m (£270m) equity-raising campaign this week (finance, p23). Heron City is anchored by a 16-screen Cinesa Cinema. The annual rental income is €7.5m (£5m). It is thought that the Barcelona deal may be the first of other Heron City sales.
Postscript:

Land Securities is to begin looking for funding this week for its landmark ‘walkie-talkie’ tower development at 20 Fenchurch Street in the City of London. The company has not made a decision as to whether it will go it alone, but BH2 has been appointed to seek interest from possible partners.

[kenc]

Beautiful building, but I always think of brick and stone when I think of London.

[The Chemist]

Won't this be the tallest building in the UK for only a very short time? Isn't the Shard (London Bridge Tower) a go?

[Fabb]

Originally Posted by The Chemist

Won't this be the tallest building in the UK for only a very short time? Isn't the Shard (London Bridge Tower) a go?

... and Bishopsgate Tower.

[wjfox2004]

Originally Posted by The Chemist

Won't this be the tallest building in the UK for only a very short time? Isn't the Shard (London Bridge Tower) a go?

I think Bishopsgate Tower will probably be topped out before Heron.

Demolition and site preparation will take longer for Heron.

[scribeman]

I'm surprised that London has space for skyscraper, actually. I don't know much about English urban planning, but with these very old cities (that's not invective, for those who have been incapable of making that discernment) I'm always surprised that there was space just sitting around someplace. Especially in London's business sector! I think it was Paris that had to build its skyscrapers outside the city center

[Hoodrat]

Don't worry folks, they're not razing olde London for all these new proposals.

From what I understand, they're tearing down ugly, low rise, mid-century office buildings located in the cities financial core.

[cyboexpo2002]

Originally Posted by scribeman

I'm surprised that London has space for skyscraper, actually. I don't know much about English urban planning, but with these very old cities (that's not invective, for those who have been incapable of making that discernment) I'm always surprised that there was space just sitting around someplace. Especially in London's business sector! I think it was Paris that had to build its skyscrapers outside the city center

That's more because of what's under Paris. Much of Paris's bedrock is the equivalent of Swiss cheese due to the cutting of rock for the buildings above, and also the massive amounts of catacombs under the city. The bedrock simply cannot support such weight in most spots. Also, Paris forbids a lot of types of modern architecture in the core of the city after a modern tower was built among some very classical architecture where it is out of place. They have a special area for such architecture, where the more creative the better.