The City of London financial district has approved plans for a 73-floor skyscraper that will match in height Western Europe’s tallest tower a mile to the south, in a sign that city planners are still betting on the office market despite the current downturn. The proposed 309.6-meter (1,015.75-foot) tower, which will be exactly the same height as London’s Shard, was given the go-ahead after a previously approved plan was revised “to better respond to post-pandemic office needs,” the City of London local authority said on Friday.

The impact

Very few major London office properties have been sold this year. Investors Nuveen and Brookfield are currently trying to sell London office towers, in a major test for investor appetite. The supply of new space to let in London has slowed since the pandemic. However, office construction in the City has recently bucked the trend, with new starts up 7% between April and September this year, compared to falls in every other central London market surveyed by Deloitte. Critics say London’s skyline has become increasingly cluttered by generic glass-and-metal towers that dwarf historic landmarks, especially in the City of London, home to St. Paul’s Cathedral. “As another, much needed office development gets approved in the City of London, it speaks to the confidence that global investors have in the London real estate market and the UK economy more widely,” said Shravan Joshi, chairman of the City of London Corporation’s Planning and Transportation Committee. The Shard, currently the tallest skyscraper in Western Europe, was completed in 2012.