Brigade Rd, Comm St beat gloom Survey Shows Rentals Have Not Dipped Here Anshul Dhamija | TNN Bangalore: As the global slowdown forced consumers to

Brigade Rd, Comm St beat gloom
Survey Shows Rentals Have Not Dipped Here
Anshul Dhamija | TNN

Bangalore: As the global slowdown forced consumers to stay at home, retailers halted expansion plans and checked out of expensive high-street locations. Result: rental rates at high street locations across the world crashed, with the biggest crashes in Mumbai. Among the exceptions were Bangalore’s two popular retail hubs — Brigade Road and Commercial Street — and Kolkata’s Camac Street.
As per the annual global survey, Main Streets Across the World 2009, by global real estate consultants Cushman & Wakefield (C&W), over threefourth’s of the world’s most prestigious shopping streets saw rentals crashing anywhere between 17% and 63.5%.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the only locations to report positive growth were Ho Chi Minh City (50% increase), Myeongdong, Seoul (6%), East Nanjing Road and Middle Huaihai Road, Shanghai (4.5% and 2.6%), Brigade Road and Commercial Street, Bangalore (0%) and Camac Street, Kolkata (0%).
However, the overall Indian highstreet rental rates crashed by a whopping 41%, making it the biggest fall across global markets. Mumbai’s leading locations — Colaba Causeway, Linking Road and Kemps Corner — reported the largest falls. Indiranagar 100-Ft Road in Bangalore reported rental drop of 50%. However, India continued to find a place among the 25 most expensive retail high streets in the world. According to C&W, Brigade Road (Rs 375 per sqft), Commercial Street (Rs 250 per sqft) and Camac Street (Rs 268 per sqft) stand out from the rest due to a 10% to 15% growth in rentals in the last quarter.