Godrej Fund Management sells Mumbai office space

Godrej Fund Management, the real estate private equity arm of the Godrej Group, is reportedly on the verge of selling three floors of office space in the Godrej BKC commercial project located in Mumbai's Bandra-Kurla Complex to Max Life Insurance for approximately Rs 9 billion. Sources familiar with the matter indicate that the deal for nearly 200,000 sq ft of office space is in the final stages, with a term sheet signed and due diligence underway. 

Currently, these floors are leased to entities such as Carlyle Group, Nayara Energy, and Investcorp at an average rental rate of over Rs330 per sq ft.

"The fund had initiated the asset sale process earlier this year, and it is expected to be finalised in the coming months," stated one of the individuals mentioned earlier.

Godrej BKC, spanning 1.3 million sq ft, was developed through a collaboration between Godrej Properties and Jet Airways. Jet Airways had acquired the 2.5-acre land parcel from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for nearly Rs4 billion in a public auction back in 2006.

Subsequently, the developer sold a portion of the commercial tower to pharmaceutical giant Abbott. At present, the office building is strata-owned by Abbott, Brookfield Group, ICICI Pru Life, and DeDecor Group.

Notably, Godrej Fund Management has made over 15 investments across its four primary property markets in India through five investment platforms, managing a total of more than 15 million sq ft of space. The fund's partners include global institutional investors such as Allianz Real Estate and Dutch pension fund manager APG Asset Management.