The iconic Connaught Place area of the Capital is the fifth most expensive office destination in the world, as demand far exceeds supply, says a report by global property consultant CBRE, adding with this CP has pushed Mumbai’s BKC down six notches.Out of the top 10 most expensive office markets, six are in Asia Pacific, three in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and just one in the Americas.
According to the 'Prime office occupancy costs' report, Hong Kong (Central) is the most expensive office market in the world with an annual occupancy cost of $235.23 a sqft, followed by London (Westend). Beijing (Finance Street) and Beijing (Jianguomen-CBD) occupy the next two slots. Delhi’s Connaught Place, is at the fifth position with an annual occupancy cost of $178.96 per sqft. Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) is at the 11th slot with occupancy cost of $119.93 a sqft. Connaught Place and BKC were at the same positions in the CBRE's list released in December.
"Demand for space in Connaught Place ranked fifth on the Q1 list, remains strong. This, combined with CP’s central location, excellent access to key regional markets and limited availability of prime office space, has fuelled the area’s rising occupancy costs," the report says. The new prime supply in CP, which has come in the form of the redevelopment and renovation of existing buildings, has commanded top rents, it added.
"On a year-over-year basis, the rate of growth in prime office occupancy costs slowed, up a modest 1.4 percent globally in Q1 of 2013, compared with 2.1 percent in Q3 of 2012," CBRE said in the report. Of the 127 markets tracked in this report, occupancy costs increased in 71 markets, declined in 34 and were unchanged in 22.
