The 670 foot tower block in Vauxhall will be taller than other leading landmarks in the city such as the BT tower and St George’s Wharf and is part of a bigger development that will transform the site known as One Nine Elms.
Chinese property company Dalian Wanda, which has bought the site from developer Green Property, said that it will construct two towers of 60 and 45 storeys. Overall the £700 million project will also have offices, a public square, shops, restaurants and a five star hotel.
The tallest tower will have 267 apartments ranging from studios to penthouses and 51 affordable homes and be completed in 2016/2017. There will be a swimming pool and gym for residents. Prices are expected to range from £500,000 to £3 million for penthouse apartments.
Owners of the top floors will be able to look down on London. The only higher homes in London will be the flats at the top of The Shard, but it is a mixed use block whereas this tower will be 100% residential.
As part of the planning deal agreed with Wandsworth council the developers will make a contribution of around £17 million to improve local infrastructure and to secure additional affordable housing outside the development area.
‘The One Nine Elms site stands out as an exciting chance to be part of the transformation of an important part of one of the world’s greatest cities,’ said Wang Jianlin, chairman of the Dalian Wanda Group.
‘Nine Elms is arguably the most exciting regeneration project in Europe and we are proud to have played our part in it. We are very pleased that Dalian Wanda will now lead the development of One Nine Elms and bring it to its next and final stage,’ said Green Property chairman Stephen Vernon in a statement.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson welcomed the investment, which he said was ‘yet another sign of the soaring global confidence in London as a world beating place to live, work and do business’.
‘This will be a real icon for this part of London and an important part of the skyline,’ said Alastair Perks, director of central London development at property consultants CBRE, which advised on the sale.
Work on demolishing two largely vacant 1970s blocks on the site is expected to start within weeks. The tallest residential building in the world is the 101 storey Princess Tower in Dubai which is 1,356 feet.
The tower will be part of a much bigger regneration scheme that is set to transform the area of the river front stretching down to Battersea Power Station. Overall there will be 16,000 new homes, 25,000 jobs and a new pedestrian bridge.
The plans also include extending the Northern line underground from Kennington to Battersea Power Station, a new linear park from One Nine Elms to Battersea Power Station, the opening up a new stretch of the Thames Path along the river, improvements to the Vauxhall one-way system, a new primary school, library, police centre, places of worship and health and leisure facilities.