Morgan Stanley leases 86,200 sq ft office space in Mumbai’s Worli
American multinational investment management and financial services company Morgan Stanley has picked up a sea-view front office space spread over two floors in a commercial tower in Mumbai’s plush Worli locality through a long-term lease of over 9 years, said persons with direct knowledge of the development.
The financial major will be paying a lease of over Rs 340 crores throughout the lease term for a total 86,200 sq ft office space on 39th and 40th floor of the upcoming tower Altimus being developed by K Raheja Corp.
The new office is likely to house the headquarters of Morgan Stanley India. The company currently has a total four offices in Mumbai including its corporate office in Lower Parel and three global in-house centers in suburbs.
The New York-headquartered company’s India arm will be paying an upfront deposit worth six months rentals at the time of the registration of the deal that took place last week.
The lease rental has been set at Rs 325 per sq ft a month for the first year and will see 4% escalation after every 12 months.
ET’s email query to Morgan Stanley, K Raheja Corp remained unanswered, while transaction advisor JLL India declined to comment for the story.
The commercial project spread over a land parcel of over 3 acres will have more than 1 million sq ft leasable area. This tower, which will be one of the tallest office towers in South Mumbai, is expected to be completed in the second half of 2023.
Morgan Stanley has been operating in India for over 28 years, providing a variety of services to domestic and international clients. The firm has a premier institutional securities platform in India, offering a full range of investment banking, capital markets, equities, fixed income, commodities, and derivative products, as well as research.
It has also been an active investor in Indian infrastructure, real estate and private equity projects over the last several years.
In 2003, Morgan Stanley established a new Global In-House Center in Mumbai to support the firm’s institutional securities, wealth management and investment management businesses worldwide.
The center houses technology, operations, finance, legal and compliance, human resources, internal audit, corporate services, fund services, prime brokerage and other specialized functions, and are located across three sites in Goregaon, Mumbai – Athena at Mindspace, Nirlon Knowledge Park campus and WeWork at Oberoi Commerz II – and in RMZ Ecoworld, Bengaluru, since 2015.
The recovery in commercial real estate, especially office spaces, after the Covid19 pandemic is getting broad-based as indicated by the rising number of small and mid-size leases and outright transactions across segments and key property markets.
The commercial office segment, which was significantly impacted by the pandemic, has made a strong comeback in the last 3-4 quarters, supported by strong economic growth, increased hiring, and a return to the office trend, keeping the office sector buoyant.
The Indian office market grew substantially and delivered a strong performance in the first half of 2022. Office transactions recorded at 25.3 million sq ft, a 107% on-year growth, indicated the potential of the market on the back of a waning pandemic and the promise of a sustained economic recovery.