Author Archives: Rachna Ranjan

India office demand reached ten quarter high in Q3

Demand for prime office space reached a ten quarter high of approximately 11 million sq. ft. for the July – September period, according to a latest India Office MarketView Report – Q3 2016. The quarter recorded a growth of 9% on a q-o-q basis and 14% on a y-o-y basis. As on September 30, 2016, overall prime office space absorption across the seven leading cities was about 28 million sq. ft. for the year. The demand was led by Bangalore (24%), Hyderabad (17%) and Mumbai (16%), followed by Chennai (16%) and Pune (13%). This increase in demand is an indication of an improvement in overall economic sentiment, with both domestic and international corporates remaining upbeat on their entry/expansion strategies.

Read more: Economic Times

Cerestra buys Alexandria R&D park in Hyderabad for Rs 400 crore

Cerestra Advisors Ltd, a real estate-focused private equity firm, has bought Alexandria Knowledge Park at Genome Valley in Hyderabad for Rs 400 crore as it plans to build an office portfolio focused on R&D clients. Alexandria Knowledge Park, which counts tenants such as Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, was previously owned by New York-based Alexandria Real Estate Equities, the world’s largest office builder of science and technology campuses.

The deal was triggered by Alexandria’s move to exit India. Singapore-based asset manager Lighthouse Canton is backing Cerestra in acquiring the asset. The Hyderabad park has leased office space of 500,000 sqft but its total build up potential is far higher at 2.5 million sqft.

Read more: Economic Times

Secura to raise Rs 200 crore to invest in realty

The country’s first SEBI-registered and Shariah-complaint venture capital fund, Secura Investment Management (India) Pvt. Ltd., launched its third investment management fund, Realty AIF 1 (Alternative Investment Fund).
Aiming to raise Rs 200 crore with the Green Shoe Option of Rs 100 crore, the minimum investment under the scheme is Rs 1 crore, which can be paid in installments in three years. The scheme will have its first closing on December 31, 2016. The tenure of the fund is seven years from the final closing, said the company officials. “With the investment potential in real estate sector is growing at a steady pace, we are looking at an annualized ROI of 15-20%” said Mehaboob M. A., Managing Director, Secura Investment Management.

Read more: Economic Times

Huda to auction 17 commercial properties in Rewari & Dharuhera on November 1

Cash-strapped Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda), which is struggling to meet its daily expenditure, is planning to auction 17 commercial properties in Rewari and Dharuhera on November 1. The auction is expected to raise around Rs 25 crore. Huda had listed several commercial properties in Gurgaon, Rewari and Dharuhera for auction in March, but had failed to attract buyers. Only around 10 out of 96 commercial properties had been sold at that time. Plots for 13 shops in Rewari and four shops-cum-offices in Dharuhera will go under the hammer next month. “We are hoping to attract buyers this time,” said a Huda official, who did not wish to be named.

Read more: Economic Times

Mumbai offices may see acceleration in rentals

The city’s office space occupiers will face upward revisions in rents in the coming years, said a report. “Compared to Q2 2015 when Mumbai’s rental values had bottomed out, the city will now start to see acceleration in its rental value growth from Q2 2016,” it said. The research tracks rents (in local currency) for prime Grade-A office spaces in several cities’ Central Business District (CBD) (or their equivalent) across the globe. It then puts these cities on a ‘rental clock’ representing the cyclical nature of office rents. In Mumbai, Bandra Kurla Complex is the de-facto CBD. “The original CBD of Nariman Point long lost out to newer micro-markets due to the evolving needs of occupiers, which it has not been able to provide,” said the report.

Read more: Economic Times

UK Sept commercial property values fall slightly: MSCI IPD index

UK commercial property values slipped in September but at a slower pace than in July and August, a closely-watched index showed, suggesting concerns about the impact of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union are easing. Overall property values for UK commercial assets fell 0.21% in September, following a 0.65% fall in August, and 2.8% fall in July, the IPD real estate index, compiled by MSCI, showed on Monday. Britain’s 900 billion pound ($1.12 trillion) commercial property market was one of the biggest victims of the turmoil that followed the June referendum, and at one point over 18 billion pounds worth of commercial property funds were suspended.

Commercial property deal activity level has since picked up, as a steep drop in sterling attracts overseas buyers and local investors remain unfazed by any potential fallout from Brexit.

Read more: Economic Times 

Rents of office spaces rise in Chennai

Shortage in supply of office space has resulted in reduced absorption and higher real estate rentals in Chennai. For the period from January to September this year, deals for nearly 3.3 million square feet have been signed, down from 3.7 million a year ago. Rentals have, however, shot up by nearly 10% year-on-year. Chennai’s real estate market is driven largely by captive back office operations of large corporations, mostly in the financial services vertical. In any given year, the city absorbs nearly 4.3 million square feet of office space.

Read more: Economic Times

World Bank expands footprint in Chennai, adds 70,000 sq ft back office space

Multilateral lender World Bank is expanding its footprint in Chennai and has signed up for additional space of nearly 70,000 sqft. World Bank set up its back office operations in Chennai in 2001 in a small space in Raheja Towers on Anna Salai. It was soon allocated land in Taramani in 2002 and set up a nearly 1.5 lakh sqft centre. Last year, the bank expanded its operations further in SP Infocity . With this deal for additional space, it will have nearly 2.7 lakh sqft of space in Chennai. The lender has only one operation outside of Washington, which is in Chennai.

All international back office operations of the World Bank is centralized and performed in Chennai. The Chennai office undertakes accounting and related functions for the bank’s nearly 150 offices.

Read more: Economic Times

Manhattan office market booming as asking rents set record

The cost of renting office space in Manhattan set new records in the third quarter amid strong leasing activity that was driven by a job creation rate in New York that exceeds the nationwide average. Leasing activity across Manhattan is 13.8% above the city’s 10-year average, and year-to-date is 11.1% better than 2015, a banner year for commercial real estate in New York, the brokerage said on Thursday. New York has created 89,000 new private sector jobs in the 12 months ended August, a 2.4 percent increase that tops the U.S. job gains rate of 1.9 percent.

Read  more: Economic Times

Thailand’s WHA Corp to launch $230 million industrial park REIT

Thailand’s biggest warehouse developer WHA Corp said on Monday it plans to launch a real estate investment trust (REIT) worth 8.02 billion baht ($230 million) in November with underlying assets in industrial estates of its Hemaraj unit. This will be the first REIT under the Hemaraj brand after WHA, builder of bespoke warehouses for lease, acquired industrial land developer Hemaraj Land and Development Plc in early 2015. Hemaraj Leasehold Real Estate Investment Trust (HREIT) will offer 569.4 million trust units to unit holders of WHA Premium Growth Real Estate Investment Trust, or WHART,, WHA said in a statement.

Read more: Economic Times