Wharf seeking City foothold

THE City of London's major property rival Canary Wharf is set to establish a foothold in the Square Mile by bidding a possible £200m for the Little Britain office complex on Aldersgate Street.

Canary Wharf has attracted many blue-chip firms such as Barclays, Lehman Brothers, publishers McGraw Hill and lawyer Allen & Overy to its Docklands estate. Those moves have enhanced its status. Rents in Canary Wharf at around £29 a square foot are on the increase to around £45, compared with £60 in the City.

The opportunity to acquire Little Britain came about after one of the big names attracted to Docklands, law firm Clifford Chance, agreed to move in the third quarter of 2003 because Canary Wharf agreed to take on its outstanding leases at Little Britain. In return, Clifford Chance took on one million square feet of office space at Canary Wharf.

Owning the lease on the offices at Little Britain would make it easier for Canary Wharf to carry out refurbishment or even to sell on again.

Property Week magazine says there are two possible rival bidders - CIT and Tishman Speyer - for the property, owned by Prudential and Japan's Nippon Life. If Canary Wharf is successful, it will be the first time it has ventured out of Docklands.

However, it did attempt to do so before when it unsuccessfully bid for the Royal Docks business park, where it was beaten by property group Development Securities.

Property agent King Sturge is acting for Little Britain and CB Hillier Parker will be advising Canary Wharf.