Connaught Place 8th costliest office location in world: Cushman & Wakefield

London's West End topped the list followed by Hong Kong

The Connaught Place has emerged as the eighth-most expensive office location in the world in 2013, down from the fourth position due to the depreciation in the rupee, according to a report.

London’s West End emerged as the world’s most-expensive office market, retaining its position ahead of Hong Kong, second place. Of the top-10 markets, only London and New York (at sixth position) have seen a rise in rental values (five and 17 per cent, respectively) while most others recorded a slowdown in rental values on a year ago, the report by Cushman & Wakefield said.

Moscow (at third position) and New Delhi recorded no change in rental values.  

“Despite a stronger performance against most of the top markets, the Connaught Place fell from the fourth to eighth position due to an appreciation in both the dollar and euro against the rupee in 2013. This caused a shift in New Delhi’s position in global occupancy costs when measured on a dollar or euro basis,” the report said. Limited activities in the location have led to the rentals remaining stable. This may continue as the market may have reached its peak rental backed by the still prevalent and positive demand for office space in the area.

Rank	Location/City	Occupancy Cost ($/sq ft/yr)
1	Westend, London (UK)	271.61
2	Central, Hong Kong	183.32
3	CBD, Moscow (Russia)	139.8
4	CBD, Beijing (China)	131.48
5	CBD, Tokyo (Japan)	128.34
8	Connaught Place, New Delhi	122.73

The location continues to remain high on priority for sectors such as BFSI, consulting, trade, media etc.  

Sanjay Dutt, Executive Managing Director, South Asia, Cushman & Wakefield, "The weakening of the Rupee against the dollar/euro has office markets in India favorable for International occupiers whilst domestic occupiers have not seen any significant change in rental values. Connaught Place has remained favourable with office occupiers due to its inherent positives of location. However, going forward, the supremacy of Connaught Place may be challenged with newer corporate offices locations in Gurgaon that may provide better alternatives.”

The trend may be similar to that in Mumbai where the planned location of BKC (Bandra Kurla Complex) and the redevelopment of Lower Parel as new office destinations have been able to replace Nariman Point in terms of demand for office space, he said.

Kolkata CBD recorded the highest rental growth in India at 4.35 per cent in 2013 driven by the positive demand from sectors such as BFSI, services/consulting. Mumbai’s BKC emerged as the second most expensive office location in India and 8th most expensive across APAC.