Realty shows signs of revival in mill belt

Indicating a revival of construction activity, which had come to a standstill of late, a few of the commercial projects stalled in the Lower Parel-Worli belt in Mumbai are picking up pace, according to the international commercial real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis. Work is once again on in full swing at two major projects on mill land, including the Bombay Dyeing mills project at Worli and tower two of One India Bulls Centre in Lower Parel, said a report by the firm. “Despite the general lack of demand, the micro market of extended business district Lower Parel and Worli is witnessing a revival of construction activity in many stalled projects,” the report stated adding that a few such projects will be ready for delivery in a few months. Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and Managing Director of CB Richard Ellis-South Asia, attributes the revival to the rationalisation of commercial market rates. “For long, many companies didn’t want to buy office space in new projects as they anticipated a further fall in rates. The rates have now been corrected in many places and with that there is an increase in fragmented demand for smaller spaces,” said Magazine. The realty slump had delayed or stalled several projects in the mill land belt, including the India Bulls projects on the 11-acre Jupiter mills land and the eight-acre Elphinstone mills land, DLF project on the 17-acre Mumbai Textile Mill land and Kohinoor projects’ construction on the 4.5-acre land of Kohinoor mill at Shivaji Park. However, India Bulls director Gagan Banga said that work the One India Bulls Centre had not been affected by the slowdown. “We have always maintained that the delay in construction was due to the structural changes we were working on after our project got an increase in Floor Space Index. Also, we have been having steady deals with clients at a constant lease rental of Rs 180 to Rs 200 per sq ft per month for the past six months,” said Banga. The company had recently sold about 15,000 sq ft of space in the project to the British Council for Rs 30 crore.