Hackney set for 700,000 sq ft office scheme on Square Mile fringe
By Nick Mathiason
A landmark 16-storey office skyscraper has been earmarked for the east London borough of Hackney.
Railtrack and Hackney are considering developing the tower on the edge of the Square Mile on a key 1.2ha (3 acre) development site that could yield offices of up to 65,030m2 (700,000 sq ft).
Bordering Shoreditch High Street, Hearn Street, Plough Yard and Worship Street, EC2, the site could appeal to financial occupiers.
Known as Northgate, the area already has detailed consent for 37,160m2 (400,000 sq ft) of offices, including four dealing floors totalling 4,700m2 (50,592 sq ft). There is also consent for 706m2 (7,600 sq ft) of retail, a 108-bed hotel with a leisure club, and a 0.3ha (0.75 acre) landscaped piazza.
While a Healey & Baker source advising Railtrack denied the news, a source close to Hackney confirmed that the train track-operating firm wants to extend the consent to embrace the tower.
It is understood that Railtrack and Hackney will offer a development lease this summer to a joint-venture partner to build and let the offices. Likely candidates include Peter Marano, British Land, Helical Bar and Greycoat.
Railtrack’s intentions come one month after the Corporation of London appeared to relax its tall building policy. Its chief planner, Peter Rees, identified seven sites where skyscrapers would be permitted if the demand existed. He also said there was scope for skyscrapers in Hackney, east of Spitalfields, which would help to extend the Square Mile.
- There are 245 major office developments planned for central London by 2003, according to a report published by The Building Centre.
