Canary Wharf mulling approaches from 30plus hotel operators
Close to deal with 74bed boutique hotel
Landlord has faced tough time, with falling office demand

LONDON, Oct 2 Reuters London39;s Canary Wharf financial district wants to convert swathes of empty office space into other uses including hotels, two executives at the landlord told Reuters, as it responds to faltering demand for its sprawl of office towers.

Canary Wharf is seen as a test case for reimagining struggling business districts, after high borrowing costs and home working postpandemic hammered commercial property values globally. Purposebuilt complexes like Canary Wharf, Paris39;s La Defense and in many U.S. cities have been hit particularly hard.

In response, Canary Wharf plans to revitalise the area by making it greener, revamping outdated buildings and repurposing some into other uses including hotels, leisure, retail, academia and cultural uses, the executives said.

Overhauling offices will be costly, with the owners and any hotel operators likely to face costs running into the hundreds of millions of pounds or more.

The area39;s landlord, Canary Wharf Group CWG has had a tricky time financially. It said in April that its property values had fallen 15 in a year, driven by falling demand for offices, and last month it saw its credit rating cut further into junk territory by credit agency Fitch.

There are certainly opportunities for us to introduce uses which are undersupplied, John Mulqueen,…