This story was reported and written by Paul Norman, with design by Jelena Schulz.
The story of Canary Wharf, and the battle to turn the former West India Docks site in east London into a preferred destination for the world's financial powerhouses, has been much told.
The project had a tough birth, overseen by Canadian investor Olympic & York and visionary developer Paul Reichmann, in the run-up to its establishment in 1987. It has had its share of ups and downs since, notably the property market crash and recession of the early 1990s. But for much of its history the story has been one of success.
During the pandemic, the estate became a London poster child for the collapse in global sentiment towards offices. The story mirrored in many ways what has been happening to its most obvious peer in France – La Défense – where a series of office towers in the purpose-built financial district, this time to the west of Paris, have recently been taken over by lenders as it faces rising vacancy rates and falling valuations.
To read the French news team's examination of La Defense, click here.
Particularly depressing for Canary Wharf were the headlines detailing an exodus of companies – most notably Clifford Chance and HSBC – to the City of London. Brexit had not helped, with Paris and Dublin rolling out the red carpet for tenants. But the pandemic, with the existential questions it raised about the future of the office, was making the estate appear an anachronism.
Yet throughout Canary Wharf kept telling the market about rejuvenation through new types of office tenants and about its pivot to residential and retail and leisure development. And, in 2025, the headlines around Canary Wharf started to change. The data backs that up. CoStar data finds leasing activity surged last year in the Docklands Core market, which includes Canary Wharf. By December, when Visa signed to relocate from Paddington in the West End to more than 300,000 square feet of offices at Canary's iconic One Canada Square tower more than 750,000 square feet of office transactions had been announced in the best office leasing year in more than a decade for the submarket.
Alongside that, HSBC, which had committed to moving out in 2023, acquired an additional 210,000 square feet at 40 Bank Street at the estate in August 2025 after it was rumoured to be facing a shortfall of several thousand desks in its new City headquarters. That followed JPMorgan’s acquisition of 150,000 square feet of overflow space at One Cabot Square in July 2025. The icing on the cake came the day after the government's November Budget when JPMorganChase confirmed it planned to build a new EMEA HQ on the estate that will be the largest office building in London.
Availability in Docklands Core has fallen sharply over the last two years too. The availability rate was just 9.7% in November 2025, well below its peak of more than 16% in 2023, and the lowest since 2018. CoStar analyst Patrick Scanlon writes: "Importantly, it is also now lower than the London average availability rate for the first time in nine years. Vacancies remain relatively high at approximately 16%, as some buildings, such as 10 Cabot Square, remain empty in advance of refurbishment. However, levels are down from their peak of more than 18% at the beginning of this year. Occupiers renewing or regearing their leases is also an important factor in reining in vacancy rates. Both Barclays and Morgan Stanley renewed their leases on a total of more than 1.3 million square feet in Canary Wharf at the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024."
So how has Canary Wharf Group, the landlord owned jointly by Qatar Investment Authority and Brookfield that owns much of the estate and curates even more of it, managed the turnaround in sentiment?
John Mulqueen, chief investment officer at Canary Wharf, points out a critical difference with La Défense is it is asset managed by a landlord with a majority ownership of the buildings.
"Canary Wharf is managed by CWG, we constructed all the buildings and remain one of the largest investors. That owner-investor dynamic shines here and placemaking is integral. Having skin in the game motivates us to invest for the benefit of the whole estate with a long-term custodian mindset. QIA and Brookfield invested through the downturn, since Covid more residential and hotels have been added and the retail and leisure offer has doubled in size to create a more vibrant place. We are now seeing the benefits, accelerated by the arrival of the Elizabeth line in 2022."
Mulqueen adds that owning and operating is central to how it builds relationships with customers. "That is convening across offices, residential, hotels and event spaces and looking at wider needs such as hosting conferences or creating opportunities to volunteer in the local community. "
Blue and green space
Safina Mirza, managing director, marketing and communications, points to the importance of what she terms the "blue and green spaces" invested in, such as Eden Dock and the estate's open-air swimming pool.
To put all of this change in to perspective, the move to add residential development, often at buildings earmarked for offices, and in particular the extension into neighbouring Wood Wharf, did not really get going until 2015. The diversification of the offer to include a focus on improved nature, amenities and new industries including health and life sciences, education, technology and fintech, didn't really start until 2020.
Today the estate houses a total of 3,902 residential units with a mix across private for sale, build to rent, affordable/intermediate and social housing. Of these 3,126 are completed and 776 are in the development pipeline or under construction. The estate's Vertus build-to-rent platform comprises a total of 1,893 units across four buildings. A huge impact on the vibrancy of what was an often soulless place at weekend and in the night in the past has been the 3,500 residents living at Canary Wharf, a figure that is estimated to double over the next couple of years. There is now 1.2 million square foot of retail too, with 97.2% occupancy, 320 retail tenants and 80 cafes, bars and restaurants. There were 50 new stores and leisure openings in 2025 and Canary Wharf says sales are at an all-time high. Mirza add visitor numbers to the district are at an all-time high, with over 76 million people visiting during 2025.
Canary Wharf is also keen to show how resilient its office occupier base is proving. The financial services community still represents around half of the portfolio, including six of the top 10 global investment banks – Barclays, Citigroup, HSBC, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Société Générale. Barclays, Morgan Stanley and HSBC extended their leases to 2039, 2038 and 2040 respectively, while Citigroup committed to the estate with an ongoing $1.5 billion office refurbishment and fintech leaders such as Zopa and Revolut have moved or expanded on the estate.
There has been sector diversification, developing space for education providers such as University College London and University of Wales, as well as occupiers from tech, fintech, business services, government, the charity sector, and media and telecoms. To help this there have been innovations such as its Level39 floor set aside for fintech startups at One Canada Square. There are now over 65 fintech companies including start-ups and scale ups such as Revolut, Zopa, eToro, TranSwap, WiseAlpha and Envestnet Yodlee on the site. It also has a growing life science community with over 40 health and life science companies. The most ambitious attempt to target this audience is its under construction One North Quay tower in partnership with Kadans. This includes state-of-the art labs, office, science and innovation space, 823,000 square feet and 23 floors to be delivered in first quarter 2028.
Mulqueen says the period of major companies leaving the Wharf and cutting space was a "moment in time". "The point in the cycle when Clifford Chance and HSBC were taking less space reflected thinking during peak Covid when many employers expected a long term reduction in office attendance. Now we see more and more occupiers expanding, Knight Frank recently reporting that of all occupier lettings in London last year 75% were tenants wanting more space." That thinking has also created a supply squeeze of new office development in central London in response to concerns about offices and that has played into Canary Wharf's hands.
Mulqueen says: "This is the most interesting time for prelet opportunities for a generation. Forward looking occupiers are now planning well ahead, so this is a great time for developers, investors, and end users to collaborate to optimise transaction terms including the building design, fit out and lease terms to create value for everyone and maximise the potential for long term investment and sustainability.”
Mulqueen says La Défense and Canary Wharf both provide large floor plates that attract large finance companies and big tech, and both now have limited supply, made worse in Paris due to a very restrictive planning process, particularly in the city centre.
Mulqueen says the Wharf offers a discount to the City of London on rents, but he predicts this will narrow over time as “tenants increasingly recognise the value of the place and the transport connections and begin to overcome outdated perceptions”. "A prime City off-plan prelet will now cost £110-plus per square foot while for the same quality building the rent will be around £85 per square foot; that discount represents great value."
Canary Wharf reworkings
The Canary Wharf estate has been grabbing the headlines for its repositioning plans for major offices that have been handed back to landlords. The most famous example is the HSBC Tower at 8 Canada Square where owner, the Qatar Investment Authority, alongside Canary Wharf, is working up plans for a sustainable mixed-use makeover of an 1.1 million-square-foot vacated space. Initial plans propose a mix of workspaces, leisure, entertainment, education and cultural attractions.
Two other interesting examples where the group is working through the planning system are at 10 Cabot Square and 33 Canada Square.
At 10 Cabot Square, Canary Wharf lodged plans at the end of last year for a reworking of the 650,000-square-foot building which Barclays Bank vacated to consolidate into One Churchill Place. The proposals are to refurbish the existing building to upgrade the office with commercial uses on the ground floor. The principal changes are to the facade and floorplate, as much of the existing building will be reused including foundations, structural frame, basement, service yard, lift and stair cores. Mulqueen says: "At 10 Cabot Square we have plans for a comprehensive refurbishment including replacement of the cladding with a striking design to create a beautiful extension with strong ESG credentials."
At 33 Canada Square, one of two Citi Group occupied Norman Foster-designed buildings on the estate and the one that Citi Group will decant out of, Canary Wharf is planning a sustainable refurbishment to create an all-electric 17-floor, 105-metre, office tower.
"At 33 Canada Square, we have a highly prominent building in the centre of the Wharf overlooking the newly created Eden Dock. We will take possession at the end of this year and comprehensively refurbish to create 550,000 square feet of best in class offices retaining much of the structure of building."