DLF agrees to sell Kolkata IT park to local developer for Rs 637 crore

BENGALURU: Country’s largest real estate company DLF Ltd on Friday said its subsidiary DLF Info City Developers (Kolkata) Ltd has entered into an agreement to sell its commercial office park in Kolkata to local developers Primarc Group and RDB group for $637 crores.

Kolkata Techno Park 1, a 1.4 million sq ft office property in the Rajarhat area on the outskirts of Kolkata, will be sold to Primarc and RDB Primarc Techno Park LLP, an affiliate of RDB Group.

DLF continues to own and manage another technology park called Kolkata Tech Park 2 in the eastern city. It is a 1.1 million sq ft commercial office development located in a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) with 18 acres of land for further development.

“DLF will use the funds to invest in high-growth markets and deliver strong returns to its shareholders. This reflects the value embedded in the core assets we have created over many years through high-quality tenant partners and asset management.” DLF Vice Chairman of Leasing and said Sriram Khattar, Managing Director. Mint.

Jones Lang LaSalle was the transaction advisor on the transaction.

Gurgaon-based DLF has also developed a large residential project, DLF New Town Heights, in Kolkata.

DLF Group has an operational commercial office portfolio of 42 million square feet. Another 14 million square feet is under construction. These projects are mainly concentrated in Gurgaon, Chennai and Noida.

DLF is one of the largest commercial office developers in the country.

September quarter

The company said after releasing quarterly earnings in October that its leasing business had seen a positive turnaround and showed steady growth. “Encouraged by these strong trends, we have accelerated our capital expenditure commitments to drive growth in our rental portfolio,” the company said.

The recovery of the office industry after the epidemic will be gradual and uncertain. This year, however, the company has laid a solid foundation to achieve record leasing volumes. The period from January to September has recorded the highest leasing volume for the period. Office leasing in nine cities is likely to reach a record high of 70 million sq ft by 2024, exceeding the peak of 66.6 million sq ft in 2019, according to estimates by real estate consultancy CBRE India.

As usual, Bengaluru led in office space absorption between January and September, accounting for about 30% of the total leasing volume. It is followed by Delhi-NCR and Hyderabad.

“Kolkata may be small as a commercial office market, but it is the gateway city to the East. We are seeing many GCCs (global competency centers) coming into Kolkata,” said Ram Chandnani, managing director, advisory and transaction services, CBRE India. .

Chandani said that office leasing momentum in Kolkata is good in 2024 and will reach 1 million square feet in 2024.

“With the lack of quality supply, this is a good opportunity for developers to build office projects in Kolkata,” he said.

DLF shares rise 1% $It was listed on the National Stock Exchange at 822 on Friday.