MUMBAI: Infotech and ITeS companies have been the main drivers of the commercial property market, and according to market surveys, 80% of the leasing and buying activity in recent months has been by IT-related companies.
Significantly, the IT sector is entering the property market at the high-end, with demands for customised campus development or build-to-suit (BTS) buildings.
Meanwhile, Kolkata has emerged in recent months as the new commercial destination for large developers, who had, so far, avoided the city. With as much as 1.6m square feet of development taking place to service the IT sector, Kolkata seems to be set firmly on the IT map.
Delhi-based developer DLF recently acquired 10 acres of land for commercial development in Kolkata, while Unitech and the CL Raheja-promoted K Raheja Corp is reportedly in talks to pick up large chunks of property for office space.
“Kolkata is in the property news. A number of Indonesian and Malaysian township developers are known to be sniffing around the city for good deals,†Akshaya Kumar, CEO of property consultants Colliers Jardine, told ET.
A Colliers Jardine survey of the Kolkata property market showed that a number of private-sector insurance companies have taken space in newly developed buildings in Kolkata. Lansdowne Road and Camac Street are coming up as vibrant areas in the city, with a number of new buildings, including some built by reputed developers like Ambuja, NK and United Credit Bellany.
East Kolkata is fast emerging as the new residential and commercial zone of settlement.
It has attracted commercial establishments like Siemens, Seri, Ambuja, Hyatt Regency and ITC Sonar Bangla.
Two IT companies, Epixstar and Netvision, are opening 1,000 seat call centres in the area.
According to a survey by Knight Frank Property Services, the main driver for commercial property in the country is the IT/ BPO/ call centre sector, accounting for 80% of the demand.
The survey says that with the sector’s revenues rising from $900m in ’01 to $2.6bn in FY03 (and Nasscom predicting a $24bn turnover by ’08), commercial space leasing and buying will continue to be dominated by the IT industry for some time to come.
With security factors and technology standards to be maintained, the IT sector is booking commercial space in customised, built-to-suit (BTS) buildings.
IT companies are willing to pay higher-than-market lease rentals, and developers are delivering high-quality, international-standard products in quick time.
Says a quarterly survey by Knight Frank Property Services on the commercial property market, “A standard 120,000 sq ft building for a call centre client can be provided, fully fitted out, in under four months.
This is unheard of even in the West.†Godrej Properties recently leased 80,000 sq ft — almost the entire building — to Veritas Software for the high quality ‘Castlemaine’ for a record monthly rental of Rs 43 per sq ft
