Stanhope has emerged as a frontrunner to develop the £1bn Noho Square luxury residential scheme in central London after the Candy brothers pulled out of the project last month.

Six developers have been shortlisted for the scheme, including Stanhope, real estate company Hines and Christian Candy’s CPC Group.

CPC is back in the running, despite having swapped its equity stake last month with Icelandic bank Kaupthing, its joint venture partner. In exchange, CPC took full ownership of a £330m project in Beverley Hills.

The swap meant that the Candy brothers’ Candy & Candy arm would no longer automatically be development manager on the Fitzrovia scheme, which also includes office space.

The deadline for the six shortlisted companies to submit their bids is 28 November.

It is understood that there are two frontrunners, one of which is Stanhope. The group offered funding for the scheme in September and is understood to have approached Kaupthing later that month to discuss how the project might be made more financially viable.

Some bidders have been more active than others, but no decision has been made yet

Mike Samuels, Kaupthing

Mike Samuels, Kaupthing’s head of real estate advisory, said: “Some bidders have been more active than others, but no decision has been made yet. Stanhope has done a lot of work.”

Stanhope declined to comment.

The role of Make, the architect that designed the proposal for the 900,000ft2 project, is unclear, and it is understood that other firms have been approached by Kaupthing.

Also this week, CPC sold its stake in the £1bn Chelsea Barracks residential project to co-funder Qatari Diar, the development arm of the Qatari sovereign wealth fund. Candy & Candy will still carry out development, planning and marketing on the project.

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