Pidilite Industries leases entire 10-storey office tower in Mumbai’s Andheri
Pidilite Industries, which owns adhesive brand Fevicol, has picked up an entire 10-storey commercial tower Opus Prime at Santa Cruz Special Economic Zone (SEEPZ) in Mumbai’s Andheri suburb through a long-term lease of five years.
The company has entered into an agreement with property owner Beekalene Fabrics for the same and will be paying monthly rental of Rs 1.80 crore, taking its total pay out to Rs 119 crore across the total tenure of the lease including the escalation in rentals.
The agreement includes a clause to escalate the rentals by 5% at the end of every 12 months. The company has already paid the property owner security deposit worth Rs 10.80 crore. As part of the agreement, Beekalene Fabrics is not allowed to terminate the lease until its tenure comes to an end, while Pidilite will have a lock-in period of 36 months.
The lease will be in effect from the rent commencement date January 1, 2023 until 31, December 2027, showed the documents accessed through CRE Matrix, a real estate data analytics firm. The transaction was registered on September 2.
“We regularly keep looking for office space requirements in line with our business needs and have leased an additional office space close to our corporate office in Andheri,” Pidilite Industries said in an email response to ET query.
Email to Beekalene Fabrics remained unanswered until the time of going to press.
As part of the lease agreement, the speciality chemicals company operating in construction chemicals and sealants will get exclusive access to a total 128 car parking slots including 118 in the parking tower.
The project Opus Prime is built on two plots assigned by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) to Bombay Knitting, now known as Beekalene Fabrics, through a 95-year lease starting in 1974 and 1977. The property owner has obtained the occupancy certificate of the building from the MIDC in December 2021.
According to the agreement, the MIDC’s subletting and sub-licensing charges of the said premises will be borne by the property owner, Beekalene Fabrics.
Office demand in suburban locations or secondary business districts has been outpacing that in the central business districts across India’s major markets.
Mumbai’s Secondary Business District (SBD) North including Andheri East-West, Vile Parle and Jogeshwari is a preferred sub-market amongst occupiers from information technology, IT-enabled services (IT/ITeS), pharmaceuticals, logistics and FMCG sectors looking for large space at a lower rental value compared to Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC).
The sub-market benefits from its proximity to international and domestic airports and the easy commute between the western and eastern parts of the city.
According to experts, the trend that began in Mumbai over the last few years with the shift in preference from Nariman Point to BKC, is now seeing corporates even considering suburbs such as Andheri and Vikhroli as a key office location and that has started to reflect in the rentals commanded by these micro-markets.