BRITAIN's biggest property developer will this week announce it is ready to press the start button on £650m-worth of office and shopping developments in London's West End.
Land Securities has picked construction partners for three new schemes, the biggest of which is Park House, a mixed-use development opposite Marks & Spencer on London's Oxford Street, close to Marble Arch.
The news that it plans to start building again - without any tenants lined up - will be interpreted as a vote of confidence in the capital's fragile property market, which has suffered a torrid two years since the start of the credit crunch.
The other two schemes are both in Victoria.
Wellington House on Victoria Street is residential, with 59 apartments including a three-bed penthouse, and Selborne House is an office and retail project.
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The property company is also about to announce it has agreed deals to bring a string of high-profile retailers - including All Saints and Kurt Geiger - to London's financial district. The chains have signed up to open stores at One New Change, a giant shopping and office development next to St Paul's Cathedral.
Land Secs hopes the scheme will become a tourist destination in its own right. The shops will be open seven days a week and the property, which opens in October, will include a roof terrace with cafes and restaurants facing the cathedral.
The group has recently stepped up its development ambitions outside London, buying a £10m site in Glasgow that fronts on to Buchanan Street, the city's busiest shopping area.
The company bought the site out of administration from Lloyds Banking Group.