In what could become one of the largest office leasing deals in Mumbai, Reliance Industries-owned media and entertainment company Viacom 18 has finalised a deal with Blackstone’s Nucleus Office Parks to take up 400,000 sq ft of space in One International Centre, a plush office complex in Lower Parel area of Mumbai, said sources in the know.
Viacom18, which owns channels such as Colors, CNBC TV 18, MTV, Nickelodeon, among others, would make the leased premises its headquarters and occupy eight floors in the building complex, said sources.
“The company wants to consolidate all its operations in one place,” sources said.
The rent is in line with the market, but it is certainly one of the biggest lease deals in Mumbai in recent years, said a consultant who is aware of the talks.
“They are paying between Rs 170 and Rs 180 per sq ft,” he said.
When contacted, Nucleus and Blackstone did not offer any comment.
Viacom18 executives were not available for comments.
Recently, HDFC Bank leased an office space of 64 ,337 sq ft in One International Centre. Early this year, Mondelez India Foods took five office units in the complex, reports said.
Blackstone bought the office properties of Indiabulls Real Estate, including One Indiabulls and Indiabulls Financial Centre, in 2019 renamed it. It is also gearing up to list some of the assets in Nucleus Office Parks through a REIT and bring out a public issue next year.
One International Centre, comprising of Tower 1, 2 and 3, has a total leasable area of 1.67 million sq ft and building 0.8 million sq ft as part of tower 4, Icra had said in 2021.
With its partners, Blackstone is the biggest landlord in the country. It along with Embassy group listed Embassy Office Parks REIT and then listed Minspace Business Parks REIT in the country.
Net leasing of office space across seven major cities fell 6.5% to 7.95 million sq ft during the April-June period, mainly on lower demand in Bengaluru amid global economic uncertainties, according to JLL India.
Net leasing of office space stood at 8.5 million sq ft a year ago (April-June 2022), JLL India had said in July last year.
Mumbai saw a dip of 26% in office space to 0.98 million sq ft from 1.33 million sq ft a year ago.