DLF Building and Services Private Ltd, a promoter group entity, has bought about 31,254 square feet of premium office space at Horizon Centre on Golf Course Road in Gurgaon for Rs 81 crore, showed documents accessed through FloorTap.com, a market-place for commercial properties.
The building is the costliest office space tower in Gurgaon.
The space was owned by Madhur Maini and has been leased to WeWork India.
SoftBank Group-backed startup WeWork filed for US bankruptcy protection earlier this month, but this did not impact its India operations.
DLF, which had originally constructed the building, had sold several office floors to prominent families and corporations from 2014 to 2019 but ceased further sales thereafter.
Earlier, Mohan Exports, the parent company of Mohan Group, acquired about Rs 27,000 sq ft in this complex for Rs 80.66 crore from Hero Cycles.
In 2021, DLF, which is also a leading lease-rentals company, had repurchased Hines’ 51.8% stake in one tower for Rs 780 crore. Currently, the DLF promoter and his family members hold 60% of the Horizon Centre.
According to a copy of the sale deed, the company paid Rs 5.67 crore as stamp duty.
Net leasing of commercial office space in India will stagnate in this financial year at 32-34 million sq ft, according to ratings agency CRISIL, with global uncertainties brewing caution among key tenant categories.
However, it said, the inherent strengths of the Indian market and increasing shift to return to office should help demand pick up over the medium term, keeping credit profiles of office asset owners stable.
India’s commercial office space is dominated by technology companies, with information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services companies occupying 42-45% of the operational stock. Global capability centres of multinational corporations have also emerged as a key category of tenants in the past few years, occupying around a third of the total stock.
Employers pushing for increased physical occupancy in offices may prove to be another tailwind for office leasing. Most companies – including those in technology, which otherwise were favouring work-from-home – are now pushing for return to office on most days of the week. Physical occupancy, which averaged 40% last fiscal, is expected to be 65-70% this fiscal.
Source : ET
