Brokers shift base to suburbs to save on rents (2) March 27, 2009
Posted by dhirendra1972 in Better Space, Bigger Space, High Rentals, New Offices.Tags: 10-storey Building, Amenities, Central Mumbai, HDFC Securities, Health Club, India Infoline, Institutional Investors, Offices, Retail Employees, Swimming Pool. Fund Houses
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Take the case of HDFC Securities which is moving a team of 400 retail employees from Parel to Kanjurmarg, a suburb in central Mumbai. The new office will have one floor in the 10-storey building which is owned by the parent, HDFC Bank.
While the rentals in Parel are about Rs 125 per sq ft, it is much lesser at Rs 70 per sq ft in Kanjurmarg. The new office offers amenities such as a health club and a swimming pool. The institutional part of HDFC Securities’ business continues to remain in Lower Parel. This is on account of clients such as fund houses and institutional investors who are located in that part of the city.
Similarly, Motilal Oswal has two offices in Malad, a suburb in western Mumbai from where over 600 people work. The company recently set up a dealing room spread over 26,000 sq ft, the largest in the country, to house more than 300 dealers. “About 600 people work from our offices in Malad. The biggest advantage is that we have bigger and better space housed in one location,” says Motilal Oswal Financial Services CMD Motilal Oswal.
However, the institutional business continues to function out of Nariman Point. A few months ago, India Infoline gave up two floors in the stock exchange building in South Mumbai on account of high rentals. A large number of employees were moved to its offices in Vikhroli, Goregaon and Parel. Kotak Bank, too, is in the process of moving a part of its retail team to the western suburbs of Goregaon, while Barclays Bank has moved a few people involved in back-office operations from its Worli office to Goregaon.
