Lai Sun Wins Approval To Build City Of London’s Third-Tallest Tower

Hong Kong’s Lai Sun Group has won approval to develop a 56-storey office tower on London’s Leadenhall Street, after tycoon Peter Lam’s textiles-to-property group had purchased a pair of existing properties on the same block as London’s Gherkin office tower in 2014 and 2015.

Hong Kong-listed Lai Sun Garment (International) Limited and Lai Sun Development jointly announced to the stock exchange last week that they had been given planning consent by London authorities to redevelop their pair of properties in the City of London into 263 metre-tall tower, which has already been dubbed “The Diamond” is set to join the growing cluster of skyscrapers in the City of London and will be the financial district’s third-tallest building when completed.

Lai Sun’s new Skidmore, Owings & Merrill-designed tower will add 102,000 square metres of office space to a growing cluster of skyscrapers in London’s traditional business district, and marks the latest major financial commitment by a Chinese investor to the British capital’s office market.

“Lai Sun has been present in London since 2010 and is committed to its long term development,” Lai Sun Development Deputy Chairman Chew Fook Aun said in a statement.

“The City, as the world’s pre-eminent financial capital, has a continuing need for ‘best in class’ office, retail and public space and this investment is a reflection of our confidence in the City’s future as the world’s financial centre.”

The Diamond will rise next to the Cheesegrater, a 225-metre tall tower which now belongs to Lai Sun’s Hong Kong-listed rival, CC Land, after the Chongqing-based developer bought the London landmark from British Land and Oxford Properties for £1.15 billion in the first quarter of 2017.

Despite the deepening Brexit drama, Chinese investment in London’s office market has been helping keep up investment volumes and values via a steady stream of transactions.

Within the first six months of this year CK Asset Holdings purchased the UBS headquarters in London from GIC and British Land for £1 billion, while privately-held rival Nan Fung paid a reported £270 million to purchase the Regent Quarter office complex in north London from ADIA and mainland developer Beijing Zhaotai Group bought 45 Cannon Street in the City for £145 million.

Ref: Property Report