Ft Financial News

Brookfield India Real Estate Trust has leased over 5.21 lakh sq ft office space including 4.63 lakh sq ft of new leasing during the quarter ended September. Of this, the listed Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) has leased over 3.18 lakh sq ft in its Special Economic Zone (SEZ) assets with 2.20 lakh sq ft of expansion demand from existing occupiers. Around 37% of the office space was leased to Global Capability Centers (GCCs).

Pune and Chennai at 4% and Ahmedabad with a 3% growth in six months were markets with the most growth, showed a Knight Frank India study. Total 23 million sq ft space transacted in the first half ending September across the top eight markets represents a 10% on-year drop in volume.

Curated Living Solutions has acquired a student housing asset spread over 1.5 acre within the NSHM Knowledge Campus in West Bengal’s Durgapur. This student housing facility with around 1 lakh sq ft built-up structure has a total 766 beds. The deal marks Curated Living Solution’s first brownfield venture in the student housing vertical and has started operating from November 1. International property consultant JLL facilitated this transaction between Curated Living Solutions and NSHM Academy. Curated Living Solutions is looking to partner with colleges and universities across India to provide customised housing facilities to students.

Mindspace Business Parks REIT is planning to develop a mixed-use property spread over 8 lakh sq ft including commercial offices and a luxury hotel at its existing business park in Mumbai region’s Airoli east locality. Of the total development, 5.30 lakh sq ft will be earmarked for office development and 2.80 lakh sq ft will be set aside for an upscale hotel. On Monday, the REIT received an approval from its board to ink a long-term lease with group company Chalet Hotels for this property. “Our memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chalet Hotels for the mixed-use development, enhances tenant offerings and fosters business synergies,” said Ramesh Nair, Chief Executive Officer, K Raheja Corp Investment Managers, manager to Mindspace REIT. In terms of development, the REIT is actively working on an under-construction pipeline of 2.9 million sq ft.

Smartworks, a provider of flexible workspaces, has leased 1,00,000 sq ft office space in Gurugram's Cyber City, according to two people aware of the deal. While DLF operates the majority of the Cyber City, the building taken by Smartworks is currently known as Reliance House and is owned by an independent owner.

Embassy Office Parks REIT, India’s first listed REIT and the largest office REIT in Asia by area, upgraded its leasing guidance to 6.5 mn sqft of office space in FY24, despite global financial turmoil and corporates reassessing their real estate portfolio. “We have successfully leased 3.1 mn sq ft, and the outlook for the full year looks promising, bolstered by a record leasing pipeline of 2.5 msf. We are also very pleased to further strengthen our long-standing partnership with one of our largest clients at Embassy GolfLinks.

M3M plans to deliver six projects in FY24 spread across 6.5 million sq ft and with a construction cost of Rs 3,250 crore. In the first half of FY24, M3M India has delivered two residential projects — M3M Heights and M3M Flora68, and one commercial project M3M Skylofts, comprising about 2.5 million square feet of space with a construction cost of Rs1250 crore. In the second half, the company aims to deliver 3 more projects – M3M Atrium57, M3M Solitude and M3M Lofts74, comprising about 4 million square feet of space with a construction cost of Rs 2000 crore. Last financial year, M3M India had launched a number of new retail and residential projects including — M3M Capital residential project, and a kilometre-wide retail project – M3M Capital Walk, both on the Dwarka Expressway as part of Smart City Delhi Airport vision. The company also launched premium retail projects M3M Jewel on MG Road, right on the IFFCO Chowk in Gurugram, and M3M Route65 on Golf Course Extension Road.

warehousing demand across the top five cities was recorded at 17 mn sq ft of gross leasing in the first three quarters of 2023. Despite a relatively slower growth during H1 2023, leasing activity picked up in Q3 2023, registering a 55% QoQ growth.

microentrepreneurs, dismantlers, and recyclers in the e-waste sector in a bid to institutionalize e-waste management. The co-working space would come up over an area of 21,000 square feet that the company has taken on lease in Meerut Road Industrial area in Ghaziabad. The facility provides affordable working solutions to microentrepreneurs in the sector through its offering of a “pay-per-use” model.

real estate services and investment major ESR Group is planning to develop a large logistics park spread over 1.4 million sq ft in Nagpur and has acquired 58 acres of land for the same. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed company will be investing over Rs 400 crores for the construction and development of the warehousing hub, ESR Nagpur Logistics Park 2, which will be its second logistics park in Nagpur and its twentieth park in India. The park is being designed to accommodate 10 buildings, with each building size ranging from 67,000 sq ft to 190,000 sq ft to meet a broad spectrum of tenant needs ranging from e-commerce to third-party logistics (3PL), retail and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). “ESR’s investment in this new grade A asset builds upon the robust response to our first logistics park in Nagpur. Our flagship 22.5-acre development, ESR Nagpur Logistics Park 1, has been operating at full occupancy since completion in 2020 having attracted high-profile tenants from retail and e-commerce domains… Our work is focussed on driving long-term sustainable growth of the economy and uplifting local communities,” said Abhijit Malkani, CEO, ESR India. According to him, the company is looking to harness Nagpur’s strategic advantages and support the burgeoning demand for new economy spaces with this second logistics park in the city.

(Reuters) — Chicago Fed president Austan Goolsbee said it is «undeniable» that the slowdown in U.S. inflation is a trend rather than a momentary blip, despite a recent string of economic data showing persistent pressure on some prices, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

(Reuters) — Major shareholders in music investor Hipgnosis Songs Fund are preparing to block the sale of a rights portfolio worth $440 million to a private fund owned by Blackstone (NYSE:BX), the Financial Times reported on Friday.

₹33 to ₹166 – a square foot per month, which is the lowest among world's leading markets, as per a report released by real estate consultancy group Vestian. In contrast, the monthly average rent in New York, London, Miami, Seattle and Boston is $40-80 per sq ft, and in Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai, it is in the range of $3-8 per sq ft a month, according to the data compiled by Vestian. Among the seven Indian cities – New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru – the highest average office rentals were observed in Mumbai, the country's financial hub, where it ranges from $1-2.

(Reuters) — OpenAI is in advanced talks with former Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) designer Jony Ive and SoftBank (TYO:9984)'s Masayoshi Son to build the «iPhone of artificial intelligence», fuelled by more than $1 billion in funding from the Japanese conglomerate, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

Oberoi Realty added. The plot of the land, which is to be redeveloped, is adjoining a property “already being redeveloped" by Oberoi Realty in a joint venture, the regulatory filing noted.

Signature Global, an NCR-based real estate developer, plans to launch 21 million square feet of projects in the next three-five years, primarily in the mid-income housing sector as it looks to reduce debt, said founder and chairman Pradeep Aggarwal. The company, supported by IFC and HDFC Capital Advisors, intends to generate as much as Rs 730 crore through its upcoming initial public offering, scheduled to launch on September 20. Originally established as an affordable housing-focused firm in 2014, Signature Global has transitioned toward mid-income housing due to rising costs of raw materials and land. «We believe the real estate sector is currently thriving, and this presents the ideal opportunity to enter the market.

(Reuters) -SoftBank is looking for deals in artificial intelligence (AI), including a potential investment in OpenAI, after the blockbuster listing of its Arm unit, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.

(Reuters) — Goldman Sachs is planning for another round of job cuts for employees who are deemed underperformers, which could come as soon as late October, the Finanical Times reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

(Reuters) -A division of Goldman Sachs' transaction banking business (TxB) has stopped signing on riskier financial technology clients after a warning from the U.S. Federal Reserve over risk and compliance earlier this year, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

There are alligators and then there are alligators.

Assetmonk, an alternative real estate investment platform, has acquired around 90,000 sq ft of office space in Tidel Park, a commercial office property in Taramani, Chennai, valued at around Rs 89 crore. The acquired floor in 1.2 mn sq ft IT park in Tidel Park hosts around 250 Fortune US conglomerates as its tenants, delivering an average rental yield exceeding 10.6%. The asset was bought from a Mumbai-based seller and is targeting an IRR of 16.5% over 5-6 years’ tenure. “The inclusion of the exceptional commercial asset at Tidel Park to our portfolio is a deliberate move in our long-term strategy, aimed at identifying unique and high-potential investment opportunities for seasoned investors.