Newcomers prefer Bangalore's CBD

It helps them establish their brands, overriding the disadvantage created by heavy traffic

The Bangalore's Central Business District (CBD) remains the most attractive and suitable real estate destination for new firms entering Bangalore, the congestion and heavy traffic notwithstanding. Presently, the central locations offer easy accessibility and visibility, and allows newcomers to build their brand equity by being in the heart of the city.

According to CB Richard Ellis' first quarter 'India Office Market Brief', the CBD has recently seen companies like 3M, Citibank, UTI Ventures, Kawasaki, Regus, JLL, Cable and Wireless and Amba Research commit themselves to central locations.

Approximately 60,000 square feet of commercial office space is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2006 and about 7 lakh square feet in the second half of the year.

Prominent transactions of this quarter in the CBD include SCT leasing 11,000 square feet on Langford Road, Adidas 14,000 square feet on Main Guard Cross Road, Citibank 81,000 square feet and UTI Bank 11,000 square feet on Vittal Mallya Road, GE 12,000 square feet and Curam Software 12,000 square feet on Murphy Road.

The non-CBD area is being seen as the most preferred location for high-end engineering companies to set up R&D centres as well as high-end support functions.

In the non-CBD areas, approximately 5 lakh square feet of commercial space has come into the market in the first quarter of 2006 and 8 lakh square feet is expected to come in each of the second third and fourth quarters. Notable transactions in non-CBD include Target Corporation leasing 148,000 square feet, BEA Systems 60,000 square feet and Lenovo 17,000 square feet on the Inner Ring Road; Next PLC 8,500 square feet on Airport Road; Pantaloon 1.6 Lakh square feet, Reuters 80,000 square feet and Agilent 35,000 square feet on Old Madras Road.

The suburban micro-market is another zone that has witnessed high space offtake by corporates over the year. Forseeing further demand, developers have committed to deliver 1.5 million square feet of space in 2006. Scarcity of space in the non-CBD area is furthering the case for location of corporates in this micro-market.

The Outer Ring Road (ORR), in the peripheral micromarket, is clearly the hottest corporate destination in Bangalore that is currently host to the likes of Intel, Accenture, JP Morgan Chase, Flextronics, Freescale, Symbol, Cadence, Broadcom, Intuit and Cap Gemini (committed space).