International: AXA to Transform Troubled London Address into Landmark Tower

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

Photo: flickr user Gordon Haws

AXA Real Estate Investment Managers is the proud new owner of 22 Bishopsgate, London. The company is spearheading the development of a new tower at the property formerly known as The Pinnacle. The site was acquired from Pinnacle No 1 Limited in an all-equity transaction worth $466 million. AXA is heading a consortium that includes Singapore sovereign wealth fun Temasek, with the company being the main project partner.

According to a press statement, Pinnacle No 1 Limited will retain an interest in the top floors, which will provide a leisure offer with separate ground floor access. The buyers were advised by JLL, while Pinnacle No 1 Limited worked with CBRE.

The new owner is set to keep Lipton Rogers Developments on as a partner in the construction process of a new building at the 22 Bishopsgate address. AXA is set to submit a planning application for the new tower during the following months. Should all planning applications go through as scheduled, construction is set to begin on the site near the Liverpool Street station at the end of the year, with completion set for the end of 2018.

The planned landmark tower is slated to feature approximately 1 million square feet of office space, including retail, as well as restaurant and bar space. The development will also feature a public viewing gallery at the top of the building. Construction at the site was stalled in 2012, and the new owners are set to bring architecture firm PLP’s vision for the project to reality, with Canadian firm WSP brought along in a consulting role.