Nov 3 2005

Site with permission for £260m project is sold

By Renato Castello

THE fate of the £260million Columbus Tower project is up in the air with its backers selling the development site at West India Quay. Farnham Properties Ltd sold Hertsmere House to Commercial Estates Group (CEG) last month for a reported £25m.

The deal comes seven months after Tower Hamlets Council gave full planning consent for the 225-metre mixed-use Columbus Tower, designed by DMWR architects.

The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi's Royal Family, His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa, had backed the project, along with developer SKMC.

Under the proposal the 63-storey buildingwould include 192 hotel rooms, 74 luxury suites, 30,085sq m of office space and 2,246 sq m of retail space with bars and restaurants. But CEG's development director Jonathan Kenny could not confirm whether it would proceed with the project.

``Given we have only owned it for the past week, it is fairly hard to say. We are reviewing what we have bought,'' he added. ``It does have planning permission on site and it is something that we have obviously got to think about and make a decision about at the right time. At the moment that is all we are in a position to say.''

Formed in 1989, CEG has offices in London, Harrogate and Cornwall, and is a long-term property investment company that buys assets with long-term development potential. It presently controls 86 propertiesworth £522m across the UK. The Wharf was unable to contact Farnham Properties or a representative to see why the site was sold.

But the company had petitioned against the Crossrail Bill in September because the tunnel will pass right under the Columbus Tower site. In a copy of their petition they argued the Bill failed to protect tenants Barclays and Morgan Stanley during future development of the site.

South Quay commercial estate agent Rupert Cherryman said that there was still a ``very good chance'' that Columbus Tower would go ahead. ``The [planning] consent reflects the change of environment around Docklands,'' he added. ``Certainly the combination of hotel and residential works well in that area