'top restaurant' for harbour site

By admin on December 6, 2007 12:00 AM

AN OFTEN overlooked corner of Canary Wharf could be set for a £5million facelift - and a top-name restaurant.
Harbour Island, the three-storey floating building in Millwall Inner Dock, will be completely refurbished under plans submitted to Tower Hamlets Council by owner Tiger Developments.
If successful the existing 68,500sq ft structure, now used for office and retail, will be stripped out and new restaurants and shops installed. It will be finished off with copper cladding, giving the building a distinctive green sheen.

Martin Claisse, UK investment director of Tiger Developments, said: "It's a fantastic waterside restaurant location, although we will be looking at a mix of uses. And we are looking to get one named restaurateur in there."
He added: "We bought the site about three years ago and we had a vision for it which has taken until now to realise. We felt there was an under-provision of restaurants in that area.
"It's surrounded by water on three sides and the Ballymore development at London Arena is coming along so we just felt the time was right to press the buttons now."
Tiger Developments acquired the building in February 2004 from Matrix Securities. A planning decision is expected by the end of this month and, if approved, work will begin on the project in the new year.
The building currently houses a number of businesses, such as the Spinnaker pub and Jogshop Docklands, and Mr Claisse said negotiations are under way to make provision for these while the works, which are likely to take a year to complete, are carried out.
He said: "These redevelopment works will not only bring new life to the area, but will also provide some much-needed local leisure facilities and improve the all-round offer of Harbour Exchange."
Recent Tiger Developments schemes include Citygate in Sheffield, Scotland Street in Glasgow and Haymarket in central Edinburgh. simon.hayes@wharf.co.uk
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