After having begun shifting into its new headquarters in the Bandra Kurla Complex area of Mumbai in mid-October, Kotak Mahindra Bank has now put on sale one floor of its erstwhile headquarters in Bakhtawar Towers, Nariman Point. The asking price is about Rs 56 crore.
Kotak Mahindra Bank is offering office space totalling 13,861 square feet in Bakhtawar Towers for immediate possession on an ‘as-is, where-is’ basis at a rate of Rs 40,000 per square feet.
In addition to office space, any possible deal would also include four car parking slots -- of which two would be in the basement and two in the open. The bank plans to retain the other two floors as part of its business strategy to hold on to office space in the prestigious central business district to function as its swing office, where the group’s top brass would meet occasionally to discuss strategy.
The bank has roped in Cushman and Wakefield as property consultants to advice on the deal. A person in the know of the development said: “The property has received three times the response and interest compared with similar property offered for sale in BKC recently, which goes to show the Nariman Point losing sheen story is exaggerated. Interest has poured in for the Bakhtawar property from across sectors and investors and not just financial corporates.”
Bakhtawar property The Bakhtawar Tower property is owned by the bank as a “legacy property” held by the bank founder and Managing Director Uday Kotak through its early founding days in 1985.
The property now houses the bank’s investment banking and treasury divisions, apart from one of Uday Kotak’s offices. Of these, the I-banking division has already shifted to the BKC headquarters.
Uday Kotak along with the bank’s operating management committee, including C. Jayaram and Dipak Gupta, have also shifted to the bank’s plush new 1.5-lakh square feet office building at BKC.