Bengaluru realtors complete office projects in a hurry

In a few quarters, more projects expected to follow suit as developers are aiming for faster completion of projects

As residential properties face long delays, developers of office properties in Bengaluru are completing projects ahead of schedule to meet the rising demand.

Three projects located on Lavelle Road and Sarjapur Road in Bengaluru were ready for fit-outs in the March quarter, beating their original completion schedules by two or three quarters, Ashutosh Limaye, head of research at Property consultant JLL, said  on Monday.

In the next few quarters, more projects are expected to follow suit as developers are aiming for faster completion of their commercial projects given the strong absorption in Bengaluru.

"This is most probably due to developers taking note of the strong pre-commitments and demand for office space," Limaye said.

 
Demand for commercial spaces in Bengaluru in 2015 overtook supply. Vacancy has been steadily declining and rents have been rising in grade-A properties. Even Grade-B buildings in good locations would see more leasing activity, Limaye said. Vacancy is a mere 4-5 per cent in Bengaluru’s office space of more than 90 million sq ft. In 2015, over 10 mn sq ft of office space were occupied in the city and another 2 mn sq ft were leased in projects under construction.

Although there is demand for 10 million sq ft, supply of only 8-8.5 million sq ft non-captive office space is expected to come up in Bengaluru in 2016.

According to Limaye, developers in Bengaluru are known to be nimble footed and we may see more “ahead of time” completions of office projects in near future to meet the strong demand the city demonstrates.