According to a BBC investigation, the reason is due to a lack of tenants.
When the Gherkin opened in 2004 there was no office space at all left unleased, but when the Shard was completed it did not have a single financial tenant in place.
Numerous other major developments across the City have run into problems, such as the so-called Can of Ham, on St Mary’s Axe.
This was granted planning permission in 2008 but the building on its planned site has not even been demolished yet, as developers are apparently “waiting for the market to turn”.
The Pinnacle – nicknamed the Helter Skelter – would have been the second tallest skyscraper in the UK, towering over Canary Wharf’s One Canada Square. Construction on the Pinnacle began in 2009, but has repeatedly stalled and is not due to resume until 2013 – by which time it will have stood less than half-built for almost 12 months.
Left in the City is a 10-storey concrete pillar nicknamed “the Stump”.
Jerry Swain, regional secretary of the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians, says the troubled scheme exemplified the problems for those working in construction.
He said: “The Pinnacle is perhaps the biggest example of this recession. It’s like the hokey cokey for workers – they are in they are out, they’re in they’re out. It’s just unbelievable to watch that project – it’s become farcical”
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