At one point in the late 1980s, the Reichmann brothers of Toronto were among the world's richest men, lords of a vast real estate, resource and railroad empire that spanned Canada, the U.S. and Europe, with a total value estimated at about $12.8 billion. Then, like Humpty Dumpty, it had a great fall. Recession hit; real estate values plunged; the Reich manns' Canary Wharf office complex under construction in London hemorrhaged money; and their Olympia & York companies were taken over by the courts and creditors. No one believed the Reichmanns could put the pieces together again.

But Paul Reichmann has not abandoned his dreams--or his skills as a patient and secretive dealmaker. The creator of Manhattan's World Financial Center and Toronto's First Canadian Place, Reichmann is back on the move. Last month he served notice of his renewed ambitions with a bid to buy back Canary Wharf, the development in London's Docklands that was both his greatest pride and his nemesis.

The 11 creditor banks that have owned and operated Canary Wharf since it was taken out of Reichmann's hands in 1993 are currently pondering his offer, in which they reportedly stand to recoup 80% or even all of the $1.23 billion in construction loans they made for the project. The deal looks very likely to come off, and Reichmann brings with him some formidable financial backers, including Saudi prince and billionaire Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (who bailed out ailing Euro Disneyland in 1994), and Loews-CBS mogul Laurence Tisch.

There is some justice in Reichmann's attempted return to Canary Wharf. It was his bold idea a decade ago to shift in effect London's financial center 5 km east, from the venerable City of London to a gleaming new development built on the abandoned Victorian-era Docklands. And it was Reichmann who got the blame when Canary Wharf failed, undone by recession in Britain, hostility from the City and the absence of adequate transportation to the new complex.

In the past three years, however, the worst of those problems have been largely solved. Highway and light-rail access to Canary Wharf has been improved, and the long-delayed link with the Jubilee Underground line is finally being constructed. Offering large, ultramodern office spaces and rental costs half those of downtown London, the complex is now three-quarters occupied, with 13,000 office workers flooding in daily.

To prospective buyers, the Wharf suddenly looks like a good investment. Reichmann, however, though leading the investment team, is reported to be in a position to buy only a small slice of the project, perhaps as little as 5%.

So why is he being included at all? "Reichmann is regarded differently from other failed developers," explains a colleague in the Canadian real estate industry who asked to remain anonymous. A courtly but secretive Orthodox Jew, Reichmann is seen as part visionary holy man, part master builder. "He is like an artist," says Andrew Sarlos, a Toronto investor and friend who has advised Reichmann on raising financial backing.

In the case of Canary Wharf, Reichmann also brings the passion of his former proprietorship and an intimate knowledge of the project's design. "The expertise of Reichmann is second to none," says Canadian real estate analyst Harry Rannala. "The Saudi was looking for a lot of knowledge and experience. Who better?" Adds leading Toronto financier Peter Munk: "Paul has leveraged his knowledge of all the nuances of the project."

Reichmann's attempt to climb back to the top comes after three years in the morass of bankruptcy court, where he lost almost all his holdings. Given Reichmann's penchant for secrecy and the debt-encumbered status of his remaining odds and ends, no one has a precise fix on his present cash position. "He was left with his reputation as a capable deal maker, a force still to be reckoned with," says a Canadian commercial real estate broker. Reichmann has already used those skills to begin building a new portfolio of properties, his latest acquisition being a chain of 16 retirement homes.

Will the bid to reclaim Canary Wharf herald the beginning of Reichmann's redemption? The U.S. and Canadian banks that are part of the consortium are reportedly eager to sell--to Reichmann or whoever else makes a reasonable bid. But even if he doesn't return to his pet project, as his friend Sarlos says, "You go through agony, you come face to face with reality. Then you set your course." And Reichmann, as ever, has set his for the highest heavens.

--Reported by William Dowell/New York, Helen Gibson/London and Gavin Scott/Ottawa