Canary Wharf in pole position for Shell Centre deal – Property Week
Property Week reports that Canary Wharf Group is the frontrunner to develop the Shell Centre on London’s South Bank into residential and office space. The group has financial backing from Qatar and is understood to be Shell’s preferred development partner for the scheme.
The famous Shell tower from the 1950s would be kept under the proposals while the three other buildings on the 5.25-acre site would be demolished, with 1.5m to 2.5m sq ft of space constructed on the site, split roughly half-and-half between residential and office space. The first phase would be completed by 2015-2016 and the final scheme is likely to be worth £1bn-£2bn, Property Week says.
The Canary Wharf Group-Qatar joint venture is in advanced talks to buy the site for about £300m, Property Week notes, but is not yet in exclusive talks. It adds that other parties that had sought to buy the property were Development Securities, with Carlyle; Chelsfield, with London & Regional; and CIT. Shell, which agreed a deal last year to move its staff to 40 Bank Street in Canary Wharf (owned by Canary Wharf Group) while the development takes place, is being advised by CBRE and Rothschild.
