Canary Wharf Group

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Canary Wharf Group plc
Company typePublic limited company
IndustryReal estate
Founded1993; 31 years ago (1993)
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Key people
Sir George Iacobescu Chairman

Shobi Khan CEO
ServicesReal estate development
£369.6 million (ending 2008)
Websitegroup.canarywharf.com

Canary Wharf Group plc is a British property company headquartered in London, England. It is the owner and developer of nearly 100 acres (0.40 km2) of property at Canary Wharf and elsewhere in London. Over the last 10 years it has constructed more office space in London than any other developer.[1] The group owns 7,900,000 square feet (730,000 m2) of property which is worth £4.9 billion, of which 95.6% was let as of 30 June 2012.[2]

History[edit]

The company was formed in 1993 as Canary Wharf Limited to acquire the former assets of Olympia and York from its administrator.[3]

In December 1995, the company was acquired by an international consortium, including Olympia and York founder Paul Reichmann.[4]

In April 1999, the company floated on the London Stock Exchange.[5]

In 2004, a majority of the company was acquired by Glick Family Investments and Morgan Stanley[6] using an investment vehicle company called Songbird Acquisitions,[7] which was later taken over by China Investment Corporation.[8]

In 2015, Brookfield Properties and Qatar Investment Authority took over Canary Wharf Group for £2.6 billion. Songbird was delisted following the takeover.

Structure[edit]

The group owns Canary Wharf Contractors, a business which has built most of the buildings at Canary Wharf.[9] The Canary Wharf Group has also launched Vertus,[10] a build-to-rent arm with properties under development in Canary Wharf.[11]

Relationship with Transport for London[edit]

Several large transport projects have been constructed which link to Canary Wharf, including the Jubilee Line Extension and Crossrail.

The Canary Wharf Group agreed to pay £500m over 24 years[12] towards the £3.5bn cost of the Jubilee Line extension. The payment was reduced by at least £25m because the line was unable to run at the capacity agreed.[13] Canary Wharf Group built the Canary Wharf railway station for Crossrail at a cost of around £500m, contributing £150m towards the station cost.[14]

The links between Canary Wharf Group and Transport for London remain strong, with Canary Wharf's Finance Director Peter Anderson previously on the board of Transport for London and chairing its finance and policy committee.[15]

The Canary Wharf Group has consistently campaigned against the now defunct Cycle Superhighway routes. In 2014, the Group opposed two cycle routes dubbed "Crossrail for bikes" by anonymously distributed a briefing paper claiming the project would be "extremely damaging to London".[16] In 2018, Canary Wharf Group were a founding member of Unblock the Embankment,[17] a campaign to remove segregated cycle route along the Embankment.

Property portfolio[edit]

Notable property addresses are:

Property address Sq ft Leased (2008) Value (2008)
One Canada Square 1,236,200 99% £688m
25–30 Bank Street 1,023,300 99% £410m
One Churchill Place 1,014,400 100% £630m
10 Upper Bank Street 1,000,400 100% £645m
All others 3,620,500 99% £2,110m

Outside Canary Wharf itself, CWG also developed 20 Fenchurch Street and is redeveloping the Shell Centre site in central London.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Canary Wharf Group website: Investor Relations
  2. ^ Canary Wharf Group website: Company Overview Archived 8 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Canary Wharf Group website: History Archived 3 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "About Us: 1995". Canary Wharf Group. Archived from the original on 4 May 2013.
  5. ^ "About Us: 1999". Canary Wharf Group. Archived from the original on 27 June 2014.
  6. ^ "U.K.'s Canary Wharf Agrees To Morgan Stanley-Glick Bid". Wall Street Journal. 5 December 2003.
  7. ^ McDonough, Tony. "Investment floods into UK; Overseas buyers put billions into property". Daily Post. Liverpool. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  8. ^ Ruddick, Graham (28 August 2009). "China invests in Canary Wharf with £880m bail-out of Songbird". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  9. ^ Canary Wharf Contractors on Emporis database
  10. ^ http://thisisvertus.com/ Vertus Website
  11. ^ https://group.canarywharf.com/media/press-releases/vertus-debuts-with-10-george-street-the-first-build-to-rent-development-in-canary-wharf-071119/ Canary Wharf Group press release on Vertus launch
  12. ^ Glover, John (2010). London's Underground (11th ed.). Ian Allan Publishing. p. 131. ISBN 9780711034297.
  13. ^ Sam-Daliri, Nadia (27 January 2012). "TfL pays £25m to Canary Wharf Group for Jubilee Line failures". The Docklands & East London Advertiser. Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  14. ^ Lydall, Ross (23 May 2022). "Elizabeth line is 'game changer' for Canary Wharf, says estate boss". Evening Standard. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  15. ^ Hill, Dave (15 October 2014). "Cycle superhighways row: wheels within wheels". The Guardian. Manchester. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  16. ^ Walker, Peter (10 October 2014). "Cyclists v lobbyists: gloves are off in the battle for London's cycle lanes". The Guardian. Manchester. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  17. ^ "Who We Are". Unblock the Embankment. Retrieved 9 December 2018.

External links[edit]

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