UPDATE: Morgan Stanley To Exit Canary Wharf Building Early
January 29 2009 - 12:53PM
Dow Jones News
Songbird Estates PLC (SBDB.LN) said Thursday that Morgan Stanley
(MS) has served notice to quit its Canary Wharf offices at 20 Cabot
Square some 10 years early.
Songbird, whose main operating subsidiary - Canary Wharf Group
PLC (CYWHE) - is the landlord of Canary Wharf, said that the
investment bank will be leaving the premises with effect from the
end of January 2010. The lease was due to run until February
2020.
No penalties are payable, a Songbird spokesman said.
The offices, comprising 345,500 square feet and six of the 10
floors of the building, are just one of three buildings currently
occupied by Morgan Stanley at Canary Wharf.
Morgan Stanley dismissed any suggestion that the move was
anything other than part of a long-term strategy to consolidate
operations.
"This move represents part of our multiyear strategy to
consolidate our space requirements in our two larger, wholly
occupied buildings: 25 Cabot Square and 20 Bank St., our new
European corporate headquarters," it said in an e-mailed
statement.
The investment bank's premises at 25 Cabot Square, which it
owns, and 20 Bank St. comprise 995,000 square feet in total.
A spokesman for the bank declined to comment on whether any job
cuts were associated with the move. In November, Morgan Stanley
announced a 10% cut in staff having already carried out a 10% cull
over the course of the year.
Canary Wharf Group also owns the 30-floor high Lehman Brothers
Holdings Inc. (LEHMQ) building at 35 Bank St. A Songbird spokesman
said that the rental was underwritten by American International
Group Inc. (AIG) for four years from any default and that Nomura
Holdings Inc. (NMR) had taken on a two-year tenancy for 150,000 of
its 350,000 square feet.
After Morgan Stanley has left 20 Cabot Square, Canary Wharf
Group's investment portfolio would be 95.7% let, Songbird said. The
rental from Morgan Stanley equates to 3.8% of the Group's total
rental income and constitutes 4.3% by area of the Group's
investment portfolio, it said.
Company Web site: www.songbirdestates.com
-By Marietta Cauchi, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 207 842 9241;
marietta.cauchi@dowjones.com
Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front
page of today's most important business and market news, analysis
and commentary. You can use this link on the day this article is
published and the following day.