Canary Wharf owner on track to resume London's Shell Centre project

Canary Wharf Group’s majority shareholder Songbird Estates today said it hoped to get back on track with the £1 billion overhaul of the Shell Centre on London’s South Bank within months.

The Dockland landlord and Qatari Diar are the development partners behind the scheme to overhaul the site next to the London Eye. The 1.45 million-square-foot complex will comprise the existing 27-storey Shell Centre, eight new buildings with shops and offices and 877 homes.

But the scheme was called in by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles last week, throwing its immediate future into doubt.

Songbird chairman David Pritchard said they were hopeful the planning hearing would be held “in the calendar year”. “We were very disappointed it was called in at all as we had gone to great lengths to to ensure that the design took account of heritage issues,” he added. Construction was due to begin in November.

The value of Songbird’s estate rose 2.6% to £5.7 billion in the first half of the year, amid rising demand for retail space at Canary Wharf and space at its Walkie-Talkie City skyscraper, being developed by CWG and Land Securities.