Bharti Real Estate CEO SK Sayal.
Delhi-headquartered Bharti Real Estate, the realty arm of Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Enterprises, plans to invest Rs 20,000 crore in the commercial development , including India’s largest mall, in Delhi over the next five to six years, chief executive officer SK Sayal has told Moneycontrol in an interview.
The commercial hub, spread over 17 million square feet (msf), will come up in Aerocity, near the Indira Gandhi International Airport, under its trademark Worldmark and would include high-street retail.
Bharti Real Estate would develop the integrated boundary-less global business district in three phases — Worldmark 2.0, Worldmark 3.0 and Worldmark 4.0.
“In Worldmark 2.0, we have got close to 7 million square feet leasable area, including retail,” Sayal said. Of the 7 msf, around 3.5 msf is the office space and approximately 3 msf is retail mall, which will be India’s largest mall, and less than 1 msf is the high-street retail, he said.
The overall investment will be Rs 20,000 crore in the next five years or so to develop distinct phases,” Sayal said.
Half of the office space at Worldmark 2.0 has been leased and set to be delivered by the end of this year. The retail portion, including the mall, would be completed by March 2027, he said.
Sayal said the mall would be a first entertainment-based shopping destination in the country, featuring an exclusive luxury shopping destination – The Haute District — alongside the largest indoor entertainment destination.
Aerocity is fast emerging as a commercial real estate hotpot due to its multi-mobility network that includes two metro lines (the Airport Express and the soon-to-be-live Golden Line) and NH8, and the proposed air train between the two airport terminals.
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Worldmark Aerocity has three operational assets under phase 1 – Worldmark 1, 2, and 3, with a gross leasable area of approximately 1.3 msf, a part of the Brookfield Properties portfolio.
While Brookfield REIT owns 50 percent in these properties, the brand name Worldmark remains with Bharti Real Estate.
Worldmark 2.0 will have three donut buildings, which would be connected underground. They will have space for parking 8,000 cars and the buildings will be six to eight storeys tall.
Sayal said that the land for Worldmark 2.0 and other phases was procured in a global bidding by the airport authority in 2019. Bharti Real Estate outbid developers like Embassy Group and DLF to win the bid.
Sayal said that Worldmark has one of the highest rentals for offices in the country.
“Overall leasing here is happening between Rs 225 to Rs 250 per square foot. So, this is close to $3 a square foot rental in this area, which is amongst the highest in the country, in the office district,” Sayal said.
Marquee assets are the target
Sayal said that the company plans to only look for approved projects, preferably if it comes from the government in Delhi only.
“We keep on looking at the marquee locations whenever it comes up, we will be happy to participate after Worldmark 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 are complete. We can look for new auctions that may come up, maybe the disinvestment side of the government in Delhi in prime assets (like The Ashok Hotel). So if they (disinvestment properties) are at prime location… we may be interested in such kinds of marquee properties,” he said.
Sayal said the contract for Worldmark 3.0 has been awarded and the master plan was ready. The structure for this phase will be up by 2027. “By 2030, the plan is that we should complete all phases of Worldmark,” he said.