BKC - from marshland to hot realty hub

K Ramanathan

From an useless marshland a few years ago to the most sought-after residential and commercial hub in Mumbai, Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) has come a long way. BKC, as it is popularly known, can be seen as a perfect example of a successfully ‘reclaimed urban land’ in the history of Indian real estate.

Having most modern amenities and with strategic location, BKC has become an extremely valuable site, which has gone from strength to strength since the time it was a marshland embedded in Bandra in west, Santacruz in North, Kurla in the East and Bandra in the West.

Over the years, BKC has acquired tactical importance to most prominent companies of Mumbai as the place became an ideal central business district with glittering and ultra modern office complexes, mixed use buildings and residences for high net worth individuals.

After having dragged all the attention from various quarters, BKC has now emerged as the most preferred destination for foreign consulates and trade offices, says Ramesh Nair, Managing Director - West, Jones Lang La Salle India.

Leading countries have opened their Consulates there with the most prominent ones being the US Consulate, Consulates of Australia and New Zealand and the British High Commission and list is getting extended with more and more countries are planning to open their offices here.

According to data available, over the last one year, the Consulates of Sweden, Belgium and France have also opened offices in Mumbai's showcase residential and commercial location. The main idea behind the largesse transfer of offices by these foreign embassies Mumbai’s CBD to BKC is for more breathing space and convenient location.

Nepean Sea Road and Malabar Hill are the places where some of the consulates have chosen to operate and these sites are residential villas. Even though these places are one of the high profile locations on Mumbai’s real estate landscape, they don’t offer the facilities these establishments need to operate.

Consulates have some specific requirements for a flawless operation of their offices. The first and foremost need is that the precinct should have high standard of fire safety and security measures having minimum two exits from the same floor and one of them preferably should have direct access from the unit.

The consulates also require that their premises should be at least 10 metres above from the ground level. Another important need is that buildings should have high visibility with easy access and robust utility prerequisite. To prevent unauthorized access, the shafts within the building should be suitably secured.

What makes the BKC special among the consulates are its excellent infrastructure facilities and well-regulated traffic around the area, which makes travel less cumbersome.

Located strategically closer to international and domestic airports and Eastern and Western Highways, BKC is also closer to high end residential localities such as Bandra and educational institutions such as The American School of Bombay and Dhirubhai Ambani International School.

Apart from having MCA Club and the Trident and Sofitel Hotels, BKC has become a main attraction because of its ample green cover, hygienic surroundings and open spaces.

Most importantly, the newly launched and completed projects here offer ultra-modern amenities and better car parking spaces. Commercial office projects such as Maker Max City, TCG Financial Centre and Capital are among the prominent ones consulates largely prefer because they have smaller sized units, better safety and security features, high building maintenance standards, energy efficiency with high quality finishes.