CP beats Manhattan in office rents

NEW DELHI: Connaught Place is the world’s seventh most expensive office space with rents beating those in the popular New York financial district of Downtown Manhattan

Published on: Jun 16, 2016, 10:05:06 IST

By Vandana Ramnani

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NEW DELHI: Connaught Place is the world’s seventh most expensive office space with rents beating those in the popular New York financial district of Downtown Manhattan and, closer home, Mumbai.

Slipping one rank in CBRE Research’s Global Prime Office Occupancy Costs bi-annual survey, the Central Business District (CBD) of Connaught Place has an annual occupancy cost of around Rs10,000 ($149.71) per sq ft per annum, which includes rent, local taxes and service charges. In comparison, the going rate at Downtown Manhattan, ranked 26th, is approximately Rs5,700 ($86.08) per sq ft per annum.

Hong Kong (Central) tops the global list (around Rs19,400 per sq ft per annum) followed by London-Central. Two market districts in Beijing and another in Hong Kong round up the top 5, while Tokyo takes the sixth spot ahead of CP.

Connaught Place attracts big corporates, especially from the services sector — banks and financial institutions, travel companies, law and engineering firms — due to its central location and proximity to government offices.

DLF Centre on Parliament Street, Birla Tower on Barakhamba Road and Red Fort Parsvnath Towers on Bhai Veer Singh Marg were among the buildings in the CBD area that were considered in the global ranking.

Anshuman Magazine, CMD of CBRE South Asia, said the factors taken into account were “quality of construction, maintenance and facilities management, quality of tenants and supporting infrastructure in and around offices”.

“The reason why rentals are highest in the CBD is because there is very little new A-grade office supply currently available in the area. This demand-supply mismatch has resulted in high rentals in Connaught Place,” he said.

In comparison, he said, Mumbai has quality office space options available in both the Bandra Kurla Complex — ranked 19th with rentals of around R6,300 ($94.79) per sq ft per annum — and Nariman Point — ranked 34th at R4,800 ($71.49) per sq ft per annum.

In Delhi’s neighbourhood, Gurgaon is popular with IT firms and BPOs but its distance from the Capital means rentals are around R3,000 ($46.14) per sq ft per annum.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vandana Ramnani
Vandana Ramnani leads the real estate vertical at Hindustan Times Digital, bringing over two decades of journalism experience across real estate, education, human resources, and foreign affairs. She specialises in India’s real estate sector, covering residential and commercial markets in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, with in-depth reporting on regulatory developments, urban policy, housing trends, and interviews with industry leaders. Her work has also appeared in the Hindustan Times newspaper and HT Estates. Earlier, Vandana played a key role in establishing the real estate vertical at Moneycontrol (NW18 Group), shaping its editorial direction and market coverage. She has also written extensively on international education for HT Education, tracking global study destinations, policy changes, and student mobility trends, earning the Singapore Education Award 2009 for Best Media Coverage (Print). Her reporting portfolio includes human resources and employment trends for HT ShineJobs and PowerJobs, as well as lifestyle and interior design features for HT Premium Homes. Vandana began her career with the Press Trust of India, gaining strong editorial and reporting expertise. She was also selected for a prestigious fellowship at Fondation Journalistes en Europe in Paris, where she wrote for EuroMag. One of her notable reporting assignments included covering Germany’s capital relocation from Bonn to Berlin. Outside of journalism, Vandana is a passionate traveller, constantly seeking out charming hideaways across India and the lesser-known, offbeat corners of Southeast Asia.Read More

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