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Tower Hamlets gives green light for 100,000 sq m Canary Wharf office scheme


The London Borough of Tower Hamlets has resolved to grant outline planning permission for a scheme that would add up to 100,000 square metres of office space at east London's Canary Wharf, despite an oversupply of office development in the Borough.

Canary Wharf Investments Limited (CWI) submitted outline plans in October 2013 for an office building up to 173 m tall at 1 Park Place, to the west of Cabot Square on the Isle of Dogs. Under the outline proposals, the remains of a previously demolished building would be removed from the 0.6 hectare site and replaced with a tower containing up to 102,102 sq m of office space.

A new decked terrace of up to 594 sq m, providing pedestrian access to the edge of the adjacent Middle Dock, and a footbridge linking Park Place to McKenzie Walk were also proposed. CWI also submitted an application for listed building consent for the proposed removal of a 28.5 m section of the grade I listed wall to Middle Dock under the scheme.

Both applications received the backing of the Borough's strategic development committee at a late September meeting.

A planning officer's report noted that "the supply of office development within Tower Hamlets generally is significantly outstripping demand", with "almost 2 million sq m in the pipeline" and estimated demand for only around 440,000 sq m by 2031.

However the report said office development at the application site was nevertheless supported, since it lay within the Isle of Dogs Opportunity Area and London's Central Activities Zone and "office floor space being provided a 1 Park Place was included in the pipeline calculation as it had already benefited from an extant consent".

A reserved matters application, providing further detail of the proposals, remains to be determined by the Borough. The detailed plans describe a building with two basement levels, a ground floor and 31 upper levels, rising to 162 m above street level. 

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