Gorkana Group is set to move from its office at 140 Old Street, EC1, to Syrian billionaire Wafic Said’s 5 Churchill Place in Canary Wharf, E14.
The media database company is under offer to take 40,000 sq ft at the 319,000 sq ft building, where quoting rents are £42.50 per sq ft. It is due to sign a 13-year lease with rent reviews in 2019 and 2024.
The deal would be a coup for landlords in Canary Wharf, which have been courting TMT occupiers in a bid to become London’s next “tech city” amid uncertainty among financial services occupiers.
Canary Wharf Group sold the long leasehold of the building in 2009 to Said Holdings, the Bermuda investment company owned by Said, for £208m.
The building was placed under offer last April by Tishman Speyer for £250m but the deal fell through.
The site has been affected by historical turmoil in the financial sector – space in the building is sublet by JP Morgan, which took on the lease as a liability when it bought Bear Stearns following the latter’s collapse in 2008.
Devono is advising Gorkana. CBRE, Knight Frank and Cushman & Wakefield are letting agents at 5 Churchill Place.
To send feedback, e-mail louisa.clarence-smith@estatesgazette.com or tweet @LouisaClarence or @estatesgazette
