Delhi malls cut rental in demand slump

Delhi malls cut rental in demand slump
HT Business, 27th January 2009, page 19

Major mall developers in the National Capital Region have cut rentals by at least 15 per cent to prevent retailers from exiting malls, industry executives say. Unitech has cut the rentals of its one million square feet mall 'The Great India Place' (TGIP), which is the largest mall in India.

Sachin Sachdeva, head of retail operations at TGIP said the current rentals are Rs. 350 (per square foot per month) for ground floor, Rs.

250 for first floor and Rs. 125 second floor, down 15 to 20 per cent from their peaks.

"Of the total 280 stores, nearly 20 are empty," he said. A large property brokerage firm owner said that the vacancy level could be higher, at nearly 20 percent.

Executives at DLF, Parsvnath and Omaxe admit to a decline in both rentals and occupancy levels. "The retail rentals have come down by 20 to 25 percent.

However, there is further scope for correction of prices by at least 15 to 25 percent," said Arvind Singhal, chairman of retail consulting firm KSA Technopak. The situation for Ambience Mall on the Gurgaon highway is worse.

A senior mall executive in the premises said nearly 160 out of total 360 stores are empty. "Revenues expected by developers and retailers did not match expectations and hence there is a re-alignment in rentals," said Rajneesh Mahajan, retail head at consultancy firm Cushman and amp; Wakefield.