When the world’s most valuable brand – Apple – decided to open its first retail store in India, it chose Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) as its go-to destination. The store has been beating expectations in terms of revenue and footfalls, CEO Tim Cook said in a recent earnings call, putting the spotlight on the area which the world’s best brand calls home in the financial capital of the country.
Apple, however, is just one of the many iconic names which have turned to BKC, best-known as an office district, for their retail needs. Some of the world’s most premium and luxury brands from Louis Vuitton to Gucci, Cartier, Dior, Versace, Tiffany, Burberry, Balenciaga, Diesel, Coach and Emporio Armani have a presence in BKC, thanks to two high-end malls – Jio World Drive and Jio World Plaza. Sources say the Reliance group, which owns the two malls, is planning more shopping centres within BKC.
That’s a pretty long distance BKC has covered. Just 30 years ago, the area between Bandra and Kurla was an empty marshland along the Mithi river. Today, it’s among Mumbai’s prime commercial districts, spread over 370 hectares and has evolved into something far more than a place full of swanky office towers and buildings. It is now a thriving food, beverage, and entertainment destination with malls, restaurants, multiplexes, high-end residential projects, a convention and cultural centre as well as hospitals, schools and five-star hotels.
Consider this: There are over 70-75 restaurants and bars within BKC, according to retail and real estate industry executives, with the potential to cross over 100 establishments in the next few years, as a steady office-going and leisure crowd ensures consistent footfalls into these outlets.
Susil Dungarwal, a retail expert and promoter of Mumbai-based Beyond Squarefeet, a mall management advisory firm, says that BKC has become an island unto itself, a township, since it was first identified as a business hub by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to relieve traffic congestion in South Mumbai in the late 1970s.
“There are two or three factors that work in BKC’s favour,” he says. “It is an office destination where lakhs of people troop into work. The first ancillary industry that has developed as a result of this huge captive base within BKC is food. That explains the F&B hub that BKC has become over the last few years,” Dungarwal says.
The second aspect, he explains, is the socio-cultural and leisure hub that BKC has become. A cultural centre (Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre) coupled with a convention centre (Jio World Centre) as well as five-star hotels (Trident and Sofitel) for events, summits, conferences and festivals, not to mention shopping malls and multiplexes (PVR), ensure there are no dearth of options when it comes to spending time at BKC.
“Bandra-Kurla Complex has a great geographical advantage with it being strategically located in the heart of the city. BKC also enjoys great connectivity with South & Central Mumbai. With the Metro lines coming up it will become easier to commute to the Western belt, not to mention that the consumer base coming into BKC is also premium,” Prateek Misra, head of luxury, F&B, retail & leisure advisory services, India at consultancy JLL, says.
BKC also continues to attract top office deals, with the per sq. ft. lease rent pegged at Rs 300-500, according to real estate experts, higher than the roughly Rs 200-250 per sq. ft that places such as Lower Parel and Worli attract within Mumbai.
“BKC is a prime office destination. The professionals who therefore get into BKC have the discretionary power to spend time and money at the best restaurants and malls,” Mukesh Kumar, MD and CEO, Quest Properties India and Chairman of the Shopping Centres Association of India (SCAI), said.
Last week, streaming major Netflix renewed its lease agreement for commercial space measuring 1.37 lakh sq. ft. in Godrej BKC for a monthly rent of Rs 4.28 crore or Rs 313 per sq. ft., joining the likes of LinkedIn, Bank of China and Hinduja Realty, who’ve also leased commercial space in the area over the last few months.
Retail and F&B brands have invariably followed this crowd, real estate consultancy CBRE South Asia said in its recent ‘India Market Monitor Q3 2023’, adding that retail leasing activity had witnessed a 46% YoY growth in the January-September period this year, led by the top 8 cities including Mumbai, which was seeing hectic leasing activity in places such as BKC.
For instance, Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton have leased two units at the Jio World Plaza in BKC for a starting monthly rent of Rs 21.56 lakh each. Most other top brands in Jio World Plaza, which is an exclusive luxury shopping destination, have similar lease agreements, executives in the know said, with rentals likely to escalate in the future.
Apple, meanwhile, is paying a monthly rent of Rs 42 lakh for its 22,000-sq.-ft. property at the Jio World Drive, with an in-built escalation clause of 15% every three years. The deal also includes a revenue share component, where Apple has to pay 2% of its revenue for 36 months, and 2.5% thereafter, according to real estate platform Propstack.