IT would be Southampton’s tallest building, nearly twice the height of the city’s Civic Centre clock tower.

Rising up to 28 storeys, more than 260ft high, this is the striking landmark tower that will complete an abandoned flagship development on the city’s waterfront.

Allied Developments, half owned by the boss of the Carphone Warehouse, has unveiled a £74m scheme for Ocean Village that could bring up to 200 jobs to the city.

The firm has submitted plans for three apartment towers, increasing in height, on a boarded up site at Ocean Village that was left unfinished when housebuilders downed tools in the recession.

The plans for Admiral’s Quay include 299 flats and up to eight restaurants with seating spilling out onto the waterside promenade in a bid to create “destination for fine dining”.

The flats would sell between £160,000 and £700,000 for penthouse duplexes, but buyers could request custom-sized £1m plus apartments.

Council leader Royston Smith said: “This is a great boost for Southampton’s waterfront and will bring further life to Ocean Village.

“This scheme alongside the plans for Royal Pier Waterfront will mark Southampton as a leading waterfront destination in Europe.

“Allied Developments and HGP Architects have put together a great scheme since taking over the site earlier this year and I am confident this will have a positive impact on the area, becoming a catalyst for further investment in the future.”

Just three of a planned row of five blocks of flats and two of up to ten restaurants and bars have been built at the Ocean Village.

The scheme was one of the first major victims of the credit crunch in July 2008 when the plug was pulled on building work and the waterfront site was put up for sale.

Barratt, which took over the development from housebuilder Wilson Bowden, announced last summer it planned to revive the scheme after failing to find a buyer for the plot, which had a £7m to £9m guide price.

It boasted it would be the “single most attractive and stylish waterfront development in England” and“a Mecca for international glamour and relaxed Riviera-style living”.

But the housebuilder later sold it to Allied for £5.7m, a property developing company half owned by Charles Dunstone, the co-founder and chairman of Carphone Warehouse and Talk Talk, who is reported to be worth around £1 billion.

Peter Morton from Allied Developments said: “Our development will be finishing off Admiral’s Quay and end the desolate building site surrounded by a hoarding that has blighted Ocean Village for years.

“It will now realise its full potential as an exciting mixed-use development situated on the marina, giving the city a waterfront destination to be proud of.

“The tallest residential tower will act as a landmark and will be the beginning of a new skyline for Southampton, while the surrounding public space will give more of a human scale and will help the area to become a real destination.”

A planning decision could be made by the end of the year.

Allied hopes to complete the build by Easter 2014.