Delhi's Connaught Place world's 7th most costliest office destination

New Delhi: Delhi's Connaught Place has slipped one notch to become the world's seventh most costliest office destination, according to property consultant CBRE.

Mumbai's BandraKurla Complex (BKC) is at the 19th position and Nariman Point at 34th, according to CBRE Research's Global Prime Office Occupancy Costs bi-annual survey.

"With annual occupancy cost of USD 149.71 per sq ft, New Delhi's Central Business District (CBD) of Connaught Place ranks as the seventh most expensive prime office market in the world," CBRE said in a statement.

Hong Kong (Central) became the highest-priced office market with an overall prime occupancy costs of USD 290 per sq ft per annum, followed by London-Central (West End) with annual occupancy cost of USD 262.29.

Beijing (Finance Street), Beijing (Central Business District) and Hong Kong (West Kowloon) are at third, fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

Tokyo (Marunouchi/Otemachi), London-Central (City), New York (Midtown Manhattan) and Shanghai (Pudong) featured in the list of top 10 most expensive office markets globally.

In CBRE's ranking released last December, London-Central (West End) was at the first position while Connaught Place sixth.

CBRE South Asia Chairman and Managing Director Anshuman Magazine said: "Over the past year, the commercial real estate market in India has witnessed positive movement. At rank seven, Connaught Place (CP) continues to attract occupiers and witnesses steady leasing activity for front office space."

"Its (CP) central location and ease of connectivity continues to attract big corporates - especially banks, other financial institutions and engineering firms," he said.

Overall, Magazine said, India continues to be a preferred destination for various multinationals to expand their operations or to set up offices due to adequate supply of quality space.

According to the survey, Asia continued to dominate the list of the world's most expensive office locations, accounting for seven of the top-10 markets.

Global prime office occupancy costs, which reflect rent, plus local taxes and service charges for the highest-quality, prime office properties, rose 2.4 percent year-on-year.

In Asia Pacific, prime office occupancy costs grew at a faster pace than global average.

A few key Southeast Asian markets registered decreases, including Singapore and Jakarta.

CBRE tracks occupancy costs for prime office space in 126 markets globally. Of the top 50 most expensive markets, 20 were in Asia Pacific, 20 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and 10 in the Americas.