HDFC to buy former HUL headquarters

The 150,000 sq ft Unilever House at Churchgate area of Mumbai is expected to fetch the company upwards of Rs 25,000 per sq ft or Rs 375 crore

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), the country’s largest private mortgage lender, is looking to buy the former headquarters of consumer goods giant Hindustan Unilever (HUL) in Mumbai, where its group companies are currently on lease. The 1,50,000 sq ft Unilever House at Churchgate in Mumbai is expected to sell at Rs 25,000 a sq ft or Rs 375 crore, property consultants said.

“We had leased the property from HUL for three years with an option to buy it out, and we intend to do that in the coming years,” said HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh at the company’s annual general meeting on Friday.

“HDFC and some of its group companies will soon move to the Hindustan Unilever building, which is next to Ramon House (HDFC’s corporate head office).

At the moment, it is on lease for three years, and HDFC has the right to buy the property,” Parekh said.

In early 2012, after a three-year wait, HUL leased out its former HQ to HDFC for an undisclosed sum. Consultants said the deal was done at Rs 200 per sq ft. HDFC took the building on lease for three years .

HUL shifted its headquarters to Chakala at Andheri in 2010 to accommodate its growing staffing needs.

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