Britannia to monetize its land in city

Britannia Industries,run by the Wadia Group,has initiated the process of looking for close to 4 lakh sqft of office space in the city.The company is in talks with multiple techparks and developers,said sources in the know of the development.

Britannias move signals how traditional Indian business houses are monetising their land parcels bought at historic prices,to emerge as potential real estate players.

Sources in the realty sector confirm Britannias intent of monetizing its 6-acre parcel of land,which it currently operates out of Old Airport Road,one of the citys arterial roads connecting the central business district to the IT hub of Whitefield.At current market prices,the marquee land parcel is valued at over Rs 450 crore.

Commercial rentals in the area hover around Rs 80 per sqft,while capital values in the luxury residential apartment space are in the range of Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000 per sqft.

The company is scouting for office space in Whitefield and Outer Ring Road,but it is still in the process of finalizing the location which might take anywhere between 6-8 months,sources told .One reason for the time lag is being attributed to the large inventory and the kind of space that Britannia requires.
An email sent to Britannia MD Vinita Bali did not elicit any response.

As reported Earlier,Britannia had a couple of months ago sought advice from real estate consultancy firms on a redevelopment model for its current headquarters.

Britannia is believed to have finalized plans of doing a mixed-use development project which includes high-end residential units and commercial office space.Indications are that Bombay Realty,the real estate arm of the Wadia group,would be given the task to execute the redevelopment of the company's property.

But promoters of Wadia Group have had initial discussions with Bangalore based RMZ Corp for developing the property,said sources.

Given that this land parcel is situated on the main road,it enjoys an FSI (floor space index) of around 3 to 3.5,which translates to a built-up area of 10-lakh square feet,for a 6-acre property.The built-up area could be more if Britannia chooses to load transferable development rights (TDRs) in the project.

A TDR is a tradeable certificate issued by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to landowners in lieu of area surrendered by them for developing public amenities.The landowner is entitled to FSI in the form of development right certificate (DRC).

But,plans of going high-rise might face hurdles as the property is located near the citys old-HAL Airport,which is being used by the defence forces.