Canary Wharf Group has struck a pair of deals with Barclays, extending the lease on one building occupied by the bank and taking back another for potential conversion to life sciences space.

Canary Wharf said Barclays has agreed to extend its lease at the 1M SF One Churchill Place by five years to 2039. Barclays joins banking peer Citigroup in committing its future to the Docklands district, while HSBC and law firm Clifford Chance have chosen to exit major leases in the Canary Wharf area and move to the City.

Canary Wharf also said it had agreed to sublease from Barclays the 560K SF 10 Cabot Square building, sometimes referred to as 5 North Colonnade, a building that Canary Wharf already owns. Barclays announced in 2021 that it would move its investment banking division out of the building and consolidate into One Churchill Place. It has a lease on 10 Cabot Square that runs until 2032.

Having taken back over the building, Canary Wharf said it is looking at options for repositioning, making it more energy efficient and examining a range of potential uses including office, life sciences, hotel, education and leisure.

Canary Wharf Group, which is one of London’s largest property owners with a portfolio valued at £7.7B, is making a major push into life sciences, converting space at its 20 Water Street building to labs and life sciences offices and teaming up with Kadans Science Partner to build an 823K SF life sciences lab and office tower.