JP Morgan secures Docklands venture

Office design news from Morgan Lovell

Published on 18-11-2008

US investment banking group JP Morgan has announced that it has secured a deal for nearly two million sq ft of office interiors in London's Docklands area.

Office industry news source Choregus has reported that the company plans to consolidate its current separated London workforce at a single headquarters in Canary Wharf.

Costs so far for the company have exceeded £250 million, which the firm paid to purchase the Riverside South site where the building is to be constructed.

However, as part of the deal, JP Morgan has signed a waiver as part of the contract with the developer, which states that construction will only begin "subject to market conditions".

Therefore, the developer stands to make an additional £76 million on top of agreed construction costs should the bank pull out of the deal.

Meanwhile, in related news, it was recently reported that up to ten per cent of Canary Wharf could be left empty in coming months due to a downturn in office rentals in the area and the fact that many businesses now find the inflated costs of renting office space in the area too high.