MUMBAI: Five years after it was first put on the block, FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) has finally found a client for its marquee former headquarters at Backbay Reclamation in Churchgate. Housing finance giant HDFC<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/housing-development-finance-corporation-ltd/stocks/companyid-13640.cms> has taken on lease the entire HUL House<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/HUL-House> spread over 1.53 lakh sq ft.
"HDFC and its group companies will shift to this property," an HDFC spokesperson told TOI on Monday. "We are expanding rapidly and need more space for our staff." Although the spokesperson refused to reveal the transaction details, TOI has learned through market sources that HUL initially demanded Rs 200 a sq ft per month plus Rs 18 per sq ft for maintenance and property tax. "But HDFC must have negotiated hard and brought it down to around Rs 160," said a property consultant who tracked the deal. The annual rent could be Rs 25 crore. The outgoings will be paid by HUL. The lease agreement is for three years. The ground-plus-seven-storey HUL House is located barely a few metres from the HDFC headquarters in Ramon House <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Ramon-House>. HDFC also occupies four floors in Mistry Bhavan behind Ramon House. HUL shifted out of its Churchgate headquarters in January 2010 after 46 years and moved into a 12.5-acre campus in Andheri (E). HUL first announced its plan to shift in 2006. "The idea behind the move was to integrate various business processes under 'One HUL Campus ' and to further integrate business processes and leverage scale and synergies across the organization," a HUL statement had stated. The transition to the new campus was done in two phases. In Phase I, the foods business team was relocated from Bangalore to the erstwhile Mumbai head office on January 1, 2007. In Phase II, the head office was relocated to the new Andheri campus on January 25, 2010. In the past few years, it unsuccessfully negotiated with several clients, including Royal Bank of Scotland and Development Bank of Singapore. State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda were also in talks with HUL to buy the property. But in January 2012, it decided to lease out the Churchgate building and offered it to potential clients for lease for five to nine years. It also offered the lessee the option to buy the property after the first three years. On Sat, Apr 7, 2012 at 3:12 PM, AVNESH JADAV <[email protected]>wrote: > > NEW DELHI: India's biggest mortgage lender > HDFC<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/housing-development-finance-corporation-ltd/stocks/companyid-13640.cms>says > home loan seekers can expect a 0.5-0.75% reduction in interest rates > ahead of the festival season if the Reserve Bank of > India<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Reserve-Bank-of-India>reduces > rates later this month. > > "If market rates come down, it normally takes us two-to-three months to > pass it on because our liabilities get re-priced," HDFC's managing director > Renu Sud Karnad said. She said she was hoping that the central bank would > reduce rates at its annual monetary policy review on April 17. > > The RBI has raised interest rates 13 times since March 2010, by a > cumulative 375 basis points in its efforts to tame > inflation<http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/inflation>. > > > Costlier loans have forced potential home buyers to postpone their > purchase decisions and have, in turn, impacted the real estate market. > Homes sales in Mumbai have dipped by over 40% in the last one year while > other cities have seen a 20% drop. > > Karnad, however, said high interest rates have not had much impact on home > sales falling in the Rs 20-50 lakh bracket, whether in big cities or Tier > II cities, because the need and demand for homes in this price range > continues to remain high. She said HDFC's home loan portfolio has increased > in the last one year, but did not share the numbers. > > "There is no concern or worry among young, middle-income Indians wanting > to buy a house except in Mumbai, which is expensive," Karnad said. > > While most cities across the country have seen steady home sales in the > last few months, Mumbai has been a concern for developers as well as > lenders. > > Karnad, however, said even in Mumbai sales are happening in the suburbs, > where price points are still affordable. > > Home loan growth in smaller cities too has been phenomenal. Cities like > Baroda, Lucknow, Chandigarh and Salem have seen 30-40% 0growth in home > loans. "These markets might be small and this growth might be on a smaller > base, but the fact is that there is demand. > > What they need is better supply of homes," Karnad said. She said that the > market expects a 10-15% cut in home prices, which seems to be high. Karnad > also pointed out that builders are faced with rising cost of construction. > Prices of cement, steel and labour have grown in the last two months, she > added. > > > -- > AVNESH K JADAV > > -- CA. Rajesh Desai -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalspeculators?hl=en.
