Delhi's Connaught Place India's costliest

New Delhi: New Delhi's Connaught Place ranks improved to 17th in the most expensive office market in the world from 25th position in 2020, with an annual average occupancy cost of $109 square feet, according to property consultant JLL. In its Premium Office Rent Tracker (PORT) report, the consultant said that New York-Midtown and Hong Kong-Central shared the title as the world's most expensive office market. These cities command $261 per square feet annual occupancy costs. Beijing-Finance Street, London-West End, and Silicon Valley are in the top five of the global list. The Asia Pacific region accounts for 6 of the top 10 most expensive office markets globally.

"The heart of the National Capital - Connaught Place is home to premium buildings and remains the most expensive office market in the country. Connaught Place in Delhi has climbed up the rankings from 25th position last year to 17th this year with an average occupancy cost of $109 square feet per year which is higher than San Francisco," JLL India said in a statement.

The report compares occupancy costs for premium office buildings across the world's leading real estate markets. This seventh edition includes 127 office markets and submarkets in 112 cities. Occupancy costs can be simply understood as the cost of the net leasable area (actual rentable area) and include all costs for an occupier including the rent (effective rent payable after considering rent-free period, tenant improvement allowances), service charges (maintenance, etc.) and government taxes payable on the rent.

According to the report, Mumbai's BKC (Bandra-Kurla-Complex) with an annual occupancy cost of $102 per square feet is the second most expensive Indian city office market. It has slipped one position down to 23rd from last year. The central business district (CBD) of Mumbai stands at 63rd position with an annual occupancy cost of $58 per square feet. Occupancy costs remained stable at $51 per square feet per year for Bengaluru, but the IT city slid down to 77th place from 74th place last year. "Occupancy costs in Gurugram, Delhi-NCR decelerated from $48 per square feet per year to $44 per square feet per year, moving it to 91st position from 83rd last year," the statement said. Chennai with an occupancy cost of $21 per square feet per year is the fourth most affordable office market globally. Globally, prime office rentals across the world have fallen since 2020 by 0.8 per cent in local currency terms.