“The constant growing commercial capital of India, Mumbai has some best locations for commercial office space (Business Districts), which are high demand as Commercial rental outlets and will always be in demand. Top Office locations like Ballard Estate, Fort and Nariman Point at South Mumbai which were the only during BOMBAY era. Lately western and eastern suburban locations like BKC, Andheri, Worli, Prabhadevi, Thane and Navi Mumbai took over the same due to bigger rental space at lower prices. Let us see which locations are highly in demand, What are the rentals for same and why many companies shifted from Nariman point towards BKC and other such locations of Mumbai..”
Kindly Note !! : Commercial Rental figures changes from time to time, Sometimes in very short period of time for few or all top commercial office locations as detailed below and same may not be updated.
Ballard Estate (South Mumbai)
This place was the first location post British rule, selected as business unit of Mumbai. Those were the period before 1970’s, late 18th century and early 19th century days when any commercial office size in demand was between 300 sq ft to 1000 sq ft. with professionals like CA, lawyers and other small financial units been part of such commercial location. Then in late 1970’s the shift and demand of commercial space was towards Fort (Near CST & Churchgate) and Nariman Point which ruled till mid 2000 for about 40 years. We really don’t know what were rentals for any commercial office space here in Ballard Estate at that time, But in 18th and start of 19th century it might have anywhere between Rs.25 to Rs.50, just a guess. Lets see what happened next in Nariman Point.
Nariman Point Commercials and Rentals
Late 70’s and till mid of year 2000, Nariman Point was the single such location, highly in demand with peak of its rentals anywhere between 300 to 600 Per Square Feet. The commercialization and growth attracted many multinationals around India and Globally to have their business expansions in India, and Mumbai was one of the first cities to have its Head Offices which was most of time at Nariman Point. Famous commercial office building like Maker Chambers 1 to 6, Dalamal House, Still roaring Air India Building, Express towers, Mittal Court (Also Tower & Chambers), Embassy House, Raheja Centre and Chambers, NCPA, Nariman Bhavan, Union Bank Building, LIC building, Bajaj Bhavan, Jolly Makers, Dalamal Towers and House, Free Press House, Hotel Oberoi and Trident, Mafatlal Chambers are some of the top commercial office locations and building available here.
In Late 2000, i.e from 2008, 2010 and 2011 the corporates, commercial giants and introducing call centres, BPO’s demanded bigger and larger office space which was not available at Nariman Point and Fort locations in South Mumbai. The only option which was also cheaper in rentals, having best facilities for employee commuting from North and East suburbs was to leave south Mumbai and go ahead to Western Suburb locations like Lower Parel, Bandra Kurla Complex, Andheri Link Road and the reason being the high demand of Commercial location and Increasing Rents because of Maharashtra Rent Control Act 2000, the load of which the landlords wanted to burden on companies renting their commercial space and getting an better option with more secure new building, huge space in suburbs with much lesser rents per square feet, major shift of Industries, Corporates, BPO, Call centres took place and BKC was among the top commercial hub suitable for top financial companies needing quality office space. Some experts in news says that the future of Nariman Point will be shifting from commercial to top luxurious residential complex with redevelopment being the only option.
Bandra Kurla Complex Commercial Hub of Suburb
When comparing Rentals of Nariman point which is anywhere about 500 to 600 per square feet, BKC lease rent goes to about 285 to 300 to 400 Per Square feet. Best par was that MMRDA have focused the location to be a commercial only targeting big companies, Best commuting options, connectivity between western and Central railway routes, More public transport options like Bus, Autos and Local Trains with Express Highway quite near, and the trigger of Rent Control Act 2000 fetched all companies towards Bandra Kurla Complex, Leaving Nariman point office as front office, then gradually that too moved towards suburbs.
Bandra Kurla Complex has 30% share of total rentals of 7 million in 2012. Any best part was getting 10,000 to 20,000 and more space at a time with single owner, compared to having multiple owners at Nariman point for getting bigger space to operate that too building now about age 20 to 30 years, less secure compared to suburbs.
Andheri and Malad Link Road
The West side locations of Mid Prime suburbs like Andheri, Goregaon and Malad has equally grown. The open plots seen in 19th century has those shiny glass building, call centres, BPO’s, Malls and lots more. Commercials like InOrbit mall, Infinity Mall and many large financial institutes like JP Morgan etc operates from Malad Link road with head offices and front offices here. Similarly Andheri Link road which had iconic commercial & industrial location called ‘Laxmi Industrial Estate’ has now hundreds of offices paying lesser rentals compared to south.
Thane Central Suburb Commercial and Rents
Thane, today has leading share of commercial office space leased compared to any of the above locations. With locations like Lower Parel given about 20% rentals, BKC renting 30% of city, Thane leads with 35% and major reason being all the latest facilities and huge space on lease, with rentals as low as Rs.50 to Rs.70 Per Square Feet. Small and Medium companies and corporates find this as one of the best option to have their operation. With Thane west having connectivity to Borivali and Mira Road, Bhayander via the famous Ghodbunder Road. It hardly takes 1 and half hour to reach any corner of Mumbai from here.
In short, the leader in commercial office property in Mumbai is now suburb based BKC, Lower Parel, Andheri Link Road, Goregaon Malad Link Road, all being in Western Suburb and Navi Mumbai in Eastern Suburb, Thane in Eastern Suburb with much cheaper rentals compared to South Mumbai. You might also like to have a look at some known residential properties of Mumbai.
See Also :
- Property Purchase Checklist
- Best Residential Locations in Mumbai
- Emerging Palghar Boisar Residency
- Navi Mumbai Residential
- Home Buying LOCATION Checklist
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