JPMorgan takes 220k sq ft in Bengaluru on lease

JPMorgan has taken 220,000 square feet of office space in Embassy Golf Links Business Park in Bengaluru on lease, an executive familiar with the development said. Pegged as one of the most high-profile office deals, the global banking and investment firm would pay around Rs 120 per sq ft or Rs 31.68 crore per annum as rent, the executive said.

The property is located off Intermediate Ring Road in Domlur area of Bengaluru. The executive said JPMorgan is most likely to use the property as service or data processing centres. A mail sent to JPMorgan spokesperson in the US and Embassy Group in Bengaluru did not elicit any response.

"The deal is good for the tenant, as the property is prestigious and has aspiration value for tenants. The rents are almost comparable to UB City in Bengaluru," said Ashok Kumar, chief executive at Cresa Partners, a commercial realty services firm.

UB City in Bengaluru is one of the biggest luxury commercial projects developed by the Vijay Mallya-led UB group and Prestige group and command rents of Rs 130-135 per sq ft. Bengaluru business parks typically command a rent of Rs 70-75 per sq ft.

The US-based bank has its head office in Kalina in Mumbai and has service centres in Powai and Malad in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. JPMorgan offers investment banking corporate banking, private equity, asset management, treasury services and investor services.

US-based Goldman Sachs also has a service centre in the same business park. Embassy Golf Links has tenants such as Microsoft, IBM, Fidelity and others. In 2015, the country's top eight cities recorded leasing of 40 million sq ft office space, which was the highest in the past five years. This was about 15 per cent more than absorption in 2014,

According to Colliers International, Bengaluru, with about 13.43 million sq ft of office absorption and 12.85 million sq ft of new construction, continued to hold its number one position across cities. The city shared about 33 per cent and 41 per cent, respectively, in total absorption and new supply among eight major cities in the country this year.

The city's traditional primary office demand driver IT/ITeS shared about 57 per cent (7.69 million sq ft) of the total absorption, followed by BFSI 20 per cent, manufacturing 13 per cent and others nine per cent.

Among the major leasing deals in Bengaluru last year were financial giant Wells Fargo leasing 860,000 sq ft in Embassy Tech Village in Outer Ring Road, oil major Shell leasing 788,000 in RMZ Eco World in Outer Ring Road and US e-commerce giant Amazon leasing 500,000 sq ft in Constellation Business Park in Outer Ring Road.