One of the main players behind the transformation of London’s Docklands into a powerful financial center is stepping down after nearly four decades.
George Iacobescu is stepping down as Canary Wharf Group chairman next month to be replaced by former L&G chief executive Nigel Wilson.
The move comes as a number of high-profile tenants plan to leave the area, but Iacobescu said it’s still a “thriving community in the heart of the old East End.”
He added: “With continued growth in the technology sector, health and life sciences, new leisure activities and the greening of the Wharf, exciting times lie ahead for the estate.”
Born in Romania in 1945, Iacobescu grew up, like many Romanians at the time, with very little money under the ruling communist government.
He once said his mother-in-law had to bring her own light bulb to a medical operation. It was the only light bulb in her house and it meant her apartment remained dark all day.
He initially wanted to be a doctor like his father, but was pushed into engineering after he told him to go into construction because “the world never stops building”.
He took his father’s words to heart and studied civil engineering in Bucharest. After working as a civil engineer in Romania from 1969 to 1975, he was able to leave the country for Canada with the help of a relative in North America.
In Canada, he got a job with the developer Olympia & York (O&Y) and was significantly involved in the construction of the Olympia Center skyscraper in Chicago and the vast World Financial Center in New York.
His relationship with London’s new financial district began in 1987, when O&Y founder Paul Reichmann sent him from Toronto to London to investigate the feasibility of building on the site of the abandoned docks.
The site was earmarked as an enterprise zone by Margaret Thatcher, with her government offering generous tax breaks to investors and promising to extend London Underground lines into the site.
While visiting the site, which had been abandoned for years, he got lost for over two hours and, upon returning to Canada, concluded that O&Y “shouldn’t touch the site”. Reichmann ignored him, pushed through the project, and Iacobescu became its construction director.
After four years, his initial fears were almost confirmed. Delays to the promised Jubilee line and Docklands Light Railway have left Canary Wharf without vital transport links, hampering investment.
After the property crash of 1992, banks refused O&Y credit and the company had to file for bankruptcy, putting Canary Wharf into administration.
In 1995, Reichmann managed to convince investors to back him in the £800m buyout of Canary Wharf. In 1997, Iacobescu became CEO, a role he would hold until 2021, also taking on the role of chairman in 2011.
During that time, Canary Wharf has grown into one of the largest urban regeneration projects in Europe, now containing 6,000,000 sq ft (1,500,000 m2) of office and commercial space and the main workplace for 120,000 workers before the Covid pandemic. His services were awarded a knighthood in 2012, making him the only British citizen of Romanian descent to receive the honour.
However, his tenure was not without problems.
He was at the helm when the Canary Wharf group emerged in 1999 and also led it in 2004 when an 11-month bidding war led to Morgan Stanley taking control of it from Reichmann-backed investment fund Brascan.
He also led Canary Wharf Group when it was bought by Qatari sovereign wealth fund and Canadian Brookfield Properties for £2.6 billion in 2015.
His biggest obstacle recently has been the pandemic and the rise of working from home, which has hit the office market. This prompted announcements by HSBC, which had occupied its own tower since 2002, and Clifford Chance to leave the area.