by Brianna Crandall — September 24, 2014—GfK has become the latest in a long list of occupiers to agree to move its U.K. headquarters to 25 Canada Square in Canary Wharf, London. The Nuremburg-based business has agreed to take 40,000 sq. ft. at the property on a new lease from October 2014. GfK is one of the world’s leading research companies, with more than 13,000 employees working in over 100 markets.
Canary Wharf, located in the Tower Hamlets section, is one of London’s two main financial centers and a feat of civic engineering, comprising 16 million square feet of superior office, retail and leisure space in what was once the derelict Docklands area. The development consists of 35 completed buildings and three malls—with more than 280 shops, cafes, bars and restaurants—attracting some of the world’s leading companies and luxury brands.
25 Canada Square , designed by César Pelli & Associates Architects, is a 50-story, 1,079,000 sq. ft. steel-framed building clad in glazed aluminum curtain wall. It was connected to 33 Canada Square at several levels to enable Citigroup Centre staff to move between both buildings.
Global mobile phone operator Truphone and energy provider International Power — a subsidiary of French utility giant GDF Suez — have both also agreed to take approximately 60,000 sq. ft. each in the 25 Canada Square building. The General Pharmaceutical Council has signed up for 39,000 sq. ft., and the owner of Europe’s largest cloud services platform, Interoute Communications, acquired 40,000 sq. ft. of office and data center space, while software support business Rimini Street has agreed to take 3,700 sq. ft. of space. With some 11 occupiers acquiring accommodation, over 300,000 sq. ft. have been rented so far in 2014.
Cushman & Wakefield acted on behalf of 25 Canada Square, and DTZ was recently appointed as the group’s joint agent on the building. JLL advised GfK and Interoute Communications, DTZ advised Truphone, Deloitte and Roberts Property Consultancy advised International Power, and Colliers advised Rimini Street Limited.
