Blackstone readies £250mn Canary Wharf office sale

Blackstone has revived plans to sell a Canary Wharf office building, seeking a price tag of more than £250mn, in the latest sign of revival for the east London financial district after a long slump following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The world’s largest private capital group has hired brokers and held early discussions for a sale of its office building at 25 North Colonnade, known as Cargo, said people familiar with the situation.

Blackstone has been sounding out market appetite as the real estate industry gathers for its annual conference in Cannes. The company has mandated brokers CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield, the people added.

The preparations for a sales process suggest greater confidence in Canary Wharf after several years in which its large office blocks have proved impossible to sell.

Valuations of the district’s office buildings have risen in recent months and new leases have been struck by the likes of Deutsche Bank and Visa.

The area’s resurgence comes after the district was hammered for years by rising interest rates and doubts about post-pandemic office demand.

Tenants of Blackstone’s 360,000 sq ft building include BP, Boston Consulting Group and ANZ, according to its website.

It is located next door to the Elizabeth Line, a key selling point for blue-chip tenants and their employees, for whom easy transport links have become a necessity since the pandemic.

Blackstone tried to sell Cargo in recent years but pulled it from the market after failing to get an acceptable price, the FT earlier reported. It bought the building in 2014 for about £165mn. Bloomberg last December reported that Blackstone was weighing its options to sell the building this year.

The private capital group may yet decide to shelve the sales process, the people cautioned.

Despite the Iran war, attendees of this year’s MIPIM real estate conference in the south of France were sanguine about commercial property’s prospects, citing the asset class’s stable and “defensive” position compared with volatile stocks and bonds.

Still, real estate is vulnerable if interest rates rise or remain higher for longer as a result of the war and ensuing price pressures.

Separately, Czech investment conglomerate PPF Group is nearing a sale of its One Westferry Circus office building, also in Canary Wharf, said people familiar with the matter. Knight Frank is advising on the deal.

One Westferry Circus, which was renovated between 2019 and 2021, counts Chevron among its occupiers.

A £250mn sale by Blackstone would be the latest signal that big office deals in the London market have returned prior to the Middle East conflict after several slow years.

About a dozen large deals are in the market, according to agents.

A total of 21 transactions worth £100mn or more were completed in central London in 2025 as of mid-December, compared with 12 for all of 2024, the FT earlier reported. Nine office buildings were sold for £200mn or more, compared with just one in 2024.

Blackstone, CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, PPF Group and Knight Frank declined to comment.