Nariman Point loses to BKC once again; BoA shifts to BKC
Bank of America is shifting its India headquarters from Nariman Point to the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), marking another milestone in the steady movement of businesses to the suburbs. The bank is expected to move next year. The deal reflects renewed interest in BKC,” said a source familiar with the deal.
The corporate houses and financial institutions prefer BKC because of its central location, good connectivity, superior quality of the properties and adequate parking facilities. In BKC, there is ample car parking space, good power backup and hi-tech AC systems — something Nariman Point buildings lack. “The Bank of America has signed a letter of intent with Sanjay Chhabria of Radius Developers to take on lease 1.30 lakh sq ft in OneBKC, a brand new commercial tower in BKC. It will occupy floors 16, 17, 18 and 19 of the building once it moves in next year. It may be mentioned that the deal has been structured with a low rent of approximately Rs 230 a sq ft per month, but with a high advance deposit of over 18 months’ rent. The lease works out to around Rs 3 crore a month. The deal was brokered by property consultancy firm CBRE. Both Radius Developers and CBRE were unavailable for comment. In 2011, Bank of America took on lease two more floors spread over 30,000 sq ft in Express Towers at the rate of Rs 310 a sq ft per month, or Rs 93 lakh. Property experts had then described it as the largest office space in Nariman Point to be taken on lease. At that time, the bank had decided to expand operations in Nariman Point itself. But it later realised that the new BKC buildings were far superior in infrastructure to the towers at Nariman Point, most of which were constructed over four decades ago. When ABN Amro Bank had renewed its lease for an office on the third floor of Nariman Point’s 12-storey Sakhar Bhavan at the rate of Rs 500 a sq ft per month in 2007, the Rs 500 barrier was touched in this business district at the height of the property boom. Though the rates are less than half, over 20% of Nariman Point’s office space said to be vacant today.
