Europe’s development bank to remain in London, despite Brexit woes

Despite the uncertainty of Brexit, a major European bank is bucking the trend of other finance corporations and staying put in London.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will lease 365,000 square feet in a new office building in the Canary Wharf area of London, deciding against leaving the United Kingdom for other European cities, according to the Financial Times.

The bank is moving from the historic financial district, City of London, to the new Canary Wharf development owned by Brookfield Property Partners and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund. The development bank will move 2,500 employees into 13 floors within its new office building in 2022, the Times reported. The length of the lease was not disclosed.

The lease is a win for Canary Wharf and the U.K., which has seen an exodus of its banking institutions to other cities in the wake of the nation’s struggles to exit the European Union. In fact, another Canary Wharf tenant, the European Medicines Agency, is seeking court approval to terminate its lease as it seeks to leave due to Brexit, the Financial Times reports.

Britain’s efforts to leave the EU have been a boon to cities like Frankfurt, where as many as 25 banks are expected to decamp from London to the German city. In Dublin and Amsterdam, home prices in the city center are skyrocketing, due to the number of financiers who are following the flow of jobs from London. [FT] – Joe Ward