Global market maker IMC’s India arm IMC India Securities has picked up a 5,830-sq-ft office in a commercial complex in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) at lease rentals of Rs 700 per sq ft a month and has also leased a large office in Worli locality.
The company has leased nearly 43,000 sq ft office space on the 34th floor of sea-view premium commercial tower Altimus in central Mumbai for a long-term tenure of 10 years at monthly rental of Rs 350 per sq ft.
The deal for the smaller office in BKC’s Maker Maxity was registered June 5, while the transaction for larger office space at K Raheja’s Altimus was registered on March 13, showed documents accessed through Propstack.
The Amsterdam-based company already has two more offices in the same complex in BKC and the additional premise has been leased for a short tenure of five months as its larger office space in Altimus is currently undergoing fit out work and getting ready to be occupied.
The deal in BKC involves the one of the highest lease rentals ever paid for an office space anywhere across India after a gap of over one and a half decade.
However, according to property consultants, this is a one-off deal and the higher rate is due to short tenure of the lease and an already fitted out office that usually takes months and additional cost, which has been factored in the rentals.
Last year, Fidelity Group’s global investment firm Eight Roads Investment Advisors picked up a sea-view front office spread over an entire floor in a commercial tower, Avighna House, in Worli at monthly lease rentals of Rs 561 per sq ft.
The new infrastructure connectivity in and around Worli is driving office space deals, attracting businesses seeking enhanced accessibility and modern facilities. For instance, the completion of the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link and the upcoming metro lines are making the area more appealing to companies including multinational entities looking to establish offices in prime locations with better amenities
In terms of highest rentals, Barclays Bank had leased 15,000 sq ft office space at commercial tower CeeJay House in Worli in 2007 at Rs 725 per sq ft a month.
ET’s email queries to IMC and K Raheja Corp remained unanswered.
IMC Financial Markets is a proprietary trading firm and market maker for various financial instruments listed on exchanges throughout the world. Apart from Mumbai, it has offices in Amsterdam, Chicago, Sydney, and Hong Kong.
India’s top seven office property markets have registered over 13.8% on-year growth in gross leasing of over 15.16 million sq ft during the first quarter of 2024, marking the second-best performance for the March quarter, showed a recent report.
This marks the third consecutive quarter where gross leasing has surpassed the 15 million sq. ft mark, following the historical high of 20.94 million sq ft in the fourth quarter of 2023 and 16.03 million sq ft in the third quarter of 2023.
