Walt Disney Company, the iconic diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise, is looking to move its India head office from its current location in Lower Parel, in central Mumbai, to Andheri, a suburban area further north in the metropolis.
Walt Disney Company India, which is the Indian arm of the US-based Walt Disney Company, is leasing out 1.25 lakh square feet in Solitaire Corporate Park in Andheri (East) at a rate understood to be about R150 per square feet per month, which seems higher than the prevailing rentals in the area. This will mean an annual lease rental outgo of about R23 crore, industry sources said.
The India office of the company is currently located in Tower I of Peninsula Corporate Park in Lower Parel and has a registered office in Solitaire?s eighth floor. The move, sources say is to consolidate operations at a single location.
Globally, US-based Walt Disney, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is present in five segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media.
Mails sent to Walt Disney?s global and India communications team on Thursday went unanswered. CBRE South Asia is understood to be the advisor on the deal, sources said. The global real estate consultant remained unavailable for comment.
The landlord of the space is D?Decor, the world?s third largest producer of curtain and upholstery fabrics, said sources. Moving offices to newer locations for the sake of consolidation or expansions has been going on in the metros for the last few years. As the cities expand, commercial districts also keep moving to various locations as companies look to save costs on real estate.
In Mumbai, Nariman Point remaining the central business district, locations like Bandra Kurla Complex, Lower Parel, Andheri and Vikhroli, among others, have come up as secondary and peripheral business districts of the city over the last five to six years. Primary drivers have been lower rentals and flurry of buildings with modern ammenities. The average lease rentals in Andheri are in the range of R115 per sq ft per month, sources said, lower than about R150 per sq ft per month in Lower Parel.