Office Letting Moving Back To The City?
July 27th, 2009Before a major influx of banks in Canary Wharf, the east London was known as the new location for London’s financial services industry. Throughout the following 20 years many large banks moved over to the Isle of Dogs which became the top competitor to the London area.
Canary Wharf got an additional shock last week when Japanese financial services corporation Nomura announced that they will move their largest UK office back to London by the close of 2010. Nomura has its eyes on a 525,000 sq ft building called the Watermark Place which is being constructed on the side of Thames. The move will involve relocating 4,000 employees.
Nomura decided to move after the management team decided that London is a more prestigious location for its international banking clientele. The company also believes that the London location will be more accessible for clients and staff members – click desk space London for more info.
Previous to the Nomura announcement, the US banking institution Morgan Stanley announced they plan to break their lease in Canary Wharf ten years early and relocate as well.
Property experts however stated that there is no real pattern emerging yet for dropping property values in the Canary Wharf area yet, but simply that the subdued market has affected organizations located in both Canary Wharf and London.
Yet, CB Richard Ellis, a property specialist, did comment that over the last year rents have lowered in the Canary Wharf area as opposed to rents in London and Mayfair. Thus, the shift in companies may just be a side effect of the London commercial property changes that have occurred over the last year and a half.