Following the news that Lehman Brothers is to move to Canary Wharf, the development has achieved another major letting. Global information services provider McGraw Hill, whose brands include Standard & Poor’s and Business Week, is to take more than 27,800 sq m (300,000 sq ft) in a new 46,400 sq m (500,000 sq ft) SOM-designed building, currently under construction at 20 Canada Square and scheduled for occupation in early 2003. McGraw Hill has been granted an option on the balance of the space.

“The creation of a new headquarters facility reflects the rapid business expansion we have achieved in Europe and the powerful trends, especially in the global capital markets, that will drive further growth,” said Harold McGraw III, chairman, president and chief executive officer of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

The new facility will house employees of the company’s financial services and business information operations, including Standard & Poor’s, which will consolidate its London operations, now housed in six separate facilities, Business Week and Platts. In addition, The McGraw-Hill Companies’ business and market development resources and related services will also be housed there.

A total of over 557,000 sq m (6m sq ft) is under construction in ten buildings at Canary Wharf. Last year the developer acquired two additional sites: an area of land immediately to the north of Canary Wharf, known as Shed 35 and a site on the riverside at the western end of the estate. It is expected that between the two sites, approximately 280,000 sq m (3m sq ft) of office and commercial space could be developed.

Richard Byatt