Insurance giant Axa has hinted hesitation in developing London’s tallest skyscraper amid fears over the UK’s potential departure from the European Union.
 
Pierre Vaquier, Axa Investment Managers-Real Assets CEO, said they will first wait for the outcome of the highly anticipated June 23 referendum before finalising the plan to build a 62-storey tower on Bishopsgate.
 
He said Axa will have to “revisit the options” if the Britain votes to leave the regional trading bloc, Bloomberg reported.
 
“We have not launched the project because we want to see the results of the Brexit” vote, Vaquier told the news agency.
 
However, in a report by The Telegraph, a company spokesman said the insurer and its partners “are committed to the development of 22 Bishopsgate and are already on site, having started the construction works with the new core starting to be formed this month.”
 
“We are finalising the appointment of the main contractor and supply chain for the ongoing construction works, which we intend to commence in the second half of the year, with the final construction timetable confirmed post the UK’s EU referendum,” the report quoted the Axa spokesman as saying.
 
According to the report, the planned skyscraper will be completed in 2019, soaring 278 metres into the London skyline.
 
The tower will have 130,000 square meters of offices, shops and restaurants and will house 100 companies and 12,000 people.
 
Axa acquired the building’s site in 2015 and obtained planning permission in November.


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