Canary wharf business latest moves

By Tom Derbyshire on February 14, 2008 2:39 PM |

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CITIGROUP is planning to clear nearly six floors of office space at its Canary Wharf headquarters.

The banking giant wants to release 150,000 square feet at its 25 Canada Square base, the largest batch of completed tower space available in London.

It has appointed Knight Frank and Cushman and Wakefield as joint agents in the deal.

Citi has approximately 25 years remaining on its lease with Propinvest and Derek Quinlan, who bought the building for £1billion in December.

The bank looks set to cut around 400 jobs in the UK as part of a re-structuring plan, mainly in the fixed income sector.

Neighbour KPMG celebrated the topping out of its new building at 15 Canada Square on Thursday, February 7. The final beam on the 16-storey tower was placed at noon, as part of a ceremony attended by 200 guests.

Canary Wharf Contractors Ltd has won an award for the innovative construction of the building. Work is set to be completed in April 2009, and KPMG has bought a 999-year leasehold.

State Street employees are set to move into their new Canary Wharf headquarters at 20 Churchill Place this year.

Canary Wharf Group (CWG) also announced this week that construction of a new 12-storey building at 5 Churchill Place is on schedule.

The development is to be largely occupied by Bear Stearns, which has pre-let 206,000 sq ft.
The global investment banking firm will move in during summer 2009.

Barclays Capital is continuing its phased occupation of 40 Bank Street after exchanging contracts last April.

The office space, which is leased until April 2023, will be filled over the next nine months. Barclays Capital also occupies office space at 5 North Colonnade and 10 South Colonnade.

Fitch Ratings Ltd will have to wait until the end of 2010 to cut the ribbon on its new Canary Wharf home.

The £290million headquarters at 30 North Colonnade will be clad in high-efficiency solar-control glass and boast a double-height entrance hall and rooftop winter garden.

KPMG also has an option on space in the building.