Godrej Properties sells office space in Mumbai for Rs 1,480 cr

In one of the largest office space transactions, Godrej Properties today announced the sale of 4.35 lakh sq ft in its commercial project at BKC, Mumbai for about Rs 1,480 crore.
Although the company did not disclose the name of the buyer, sources said the office space has been purchased by pharma company Abbott India.
In a filing to the BSE, Godrej Properties informed that "the company has entered into a transaction for selling 4,35,000 sq ft of saleable area at its commercial project Godrej BKC in Bandra Kulra Complex (BKC) Mumbai to a single user for a total consideration of Rs 1,479 crore.

"This is the highest ever value for any single end-user commercial real estate transaction in India".
Godrej BKC is a large high-end commercial real estate project with approximately 1.3 million sq ft of saleable area.
Godrej Properties had partnered with Jet Airways to develop this project, which is expected to be completed and ready for occupancy by mid-2016.

"We are very happy to have successfully concluded this large and strategically important deal at our project Godrej BKC. This deal will be an important driver of our plans to unlock capital invested in our commercial portfolio and will hasten the pace of our growth going forward," Godrej Properties MD & CEO Pirojsha Godrej said.

The company said 'Godrej BKC' project has been planned as the country's premier office address. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is constructing the project. It is the only building in BKC to have received a LEED Platinum Pre-certification, globally recognised as the highest available rating for green buildings.
Godrej Properties is developing residential, commercial and township projects spread across 110.30 million square feet in 12 cities.
In May, Pirojsha Godrej had said that the company is targeting to sell Rs 2,000 crore worth commercial assets over the next 2-3 years to reduce debt.
The company had a net debt of Rs 2,764 crore as on March 31, 2015.

Although real estate market is facing a huge slowdown for the last 2-3 years, the office space segment is performing well with increased leasing activities.
Recently, e-commerce player Flipkart leased over 2 million sq ft of office space in Bengaluru.