One of Sydney’s most prominent CBD projects, which has been battling to stay afloat under a heavy debt load, may have found its white knight, as industry super fund developer Cbus Property enters talks to take it over.

The 55-storey office tower, proposed for the corner of Hunter and Pitt streets, shot to prominence with an ambitious plan for the 40,000 square-metre building to be constructed partly of timber. Were it to be built, the project – known as the Halo tower – would lay claim to being the world’s tallest such hybrid timber tower.