Skyscrapers in the Canary Wharf financial, business and shopping district in London, UK.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesVisa is moving its Europeanheadquarters to London’s financial district, hot on the heels of an announcement by JPMorgan that it will build a landmark tower inan area considered to be the city’s answer to Wall Street.Visa, whose Europeanheadquarters is currently atPaddingtonin the west of London,has signed a15-year, 300,000 square footleaseat One Canada Square in Canary Wharf, according to Canary Wharf Group. The firm will move in summer of 2028.It follows news that JPMorgan intends to build a new 3 million square foot tower inthe city’s historic financial district, whileHSBC, BBVA, Barclays, Citibank and others have recommitted to the area in 2025.British fintech Revolut also opened an office in the area in September.Canary Wharf was hit particularly hard as the coronavirus pandemic fueled a move to hybrid and remote working. The Docklands Core submarket, which includes Canary Wharf, hitrecord high vacancy rates in the first quarter of 2025, at18.5%,according todata from CoStar.There are three main reasons for a resurgence of the district,Shobi Khan, CEO, Canary Wharf Group, told CNBC in September,at which point Canary Wharf’s vacancy rate was 6%.First is the convenience of the Elizabeth line railway, which has provided access to the area that has “never been better,” as well as the fact the space is now multi-use, featuring residential home and hotels as well as offices.”And lastly, real estate is about demand and supply. The construction pipeline isbasically turningoff after 2026 and so rents are being increased,we’repushing rents and getting the benefit of having limited space for occupants to look at,”Khan said.”Canary Wharf is thriving,” he added.More than 750,000 squarefootof office leases have been announced in the docklands area this year, marking what Canary Wharf Groupsaid will be itsbest office leasing year in more than a decade.It is helped by measures announced in the U.K.’s Autumn Budget, which stabilized thelonger-terminterest rate environmenta key metric for the real estate industry according toShabab Qadar, partner and head of London research at Knight Frank.TheJPMorgan commitment is “a huge sign of London is open for business,” Qadar told “Squawk Box Europe” on Friday. “London needs rerating.There’sa lot of attractive pricing for London offices right now.”Companies are increasingly requiring employees to return to officeand incentivizing them to do so, offeringthe real estate industrysome form of respitefrom highobsolescence riskthanks in partto pandemic-erashifts in work.”Occupiers want their accommodation to be much more conducive to the wellness of employees. There’s war for talent, and getting people back in the office, whichwe’veseen increased quite considerably over the last 12 months, is requiring employers to provide the best quality office space for their staff,” Qadar said.”People made incorrect decisions when it came to downsizing over the last few years, and we’re going to see a period of upsizing now,” he added.Thenewthree-yearstamp duty exemptionfor companies listing on a U.K. stock exchangewill also “provide a kicker to financial services, particularly in the city,” Qadar said, however pension reform is also “critical to raising the attractiveness of London to global investors.””Digital payments power economies right across Europe. This exciting next step will better position us to pioneer the future of payments, giving Europeans access to world-class payment experiences while being offered the highest levels of security,resilienceand reliability,” said Antony Cahill, regional president and CEO of Visa Europe, said in a statement.