Tata Retail arm acquires office space at LodhaWadala project

In the first large commercial real estate transaction of this year, Tata Group’s retail arm Trent Ltd has acquired 5 floors of office space at Lodha Developers’ recently completed office building LodhaExcelus at New Cuffe Parade in Central Mumbai. Of the 5 floors, Trent has bought 4 floors on an outright basis, while one floor has been picked up on lease for a long term of 25 years. The deal is valued at about Rs 300 crore for a total 150,000 sqft leasable area. Trent operates retail chain Westside, Landmark, a family entertainment format store, and Star Bazaar, a hypermarket chain which is a joint venture with UK’s supermarket chain, Tesco. The newly acquired space is expected to house consolidated offices of these brands. Rental for the floor picked up on lease is set at Rs 125 per sqft a month. The lease contract includes a clause with 15% rental escalation every three years.