Top banks drop anchor at Patel’s

MUMBAI: Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel may now host the world’s biggest investment banks. He has got some of them to set up their beachheads in India in a building that he owns in Worli.

What’s more, once the construction is complete, he will tower over these investment banking and private equity firms, considering that he will be just a few floors above in his penthouse.

Ceejay House in Worli is transforming itself into Mumbai’s mecca of investment banking. Barclays Bank, Credit Suisse, Societe Generale, and Lehman Brothers are among those that have set up, or are setting up, office in this 15-storey office complex.

According to the architect, Talati and Panthaky Associated Architects, the building, with 2.75 lakh sq ft of constructed area, will be ready for occupation in about three months.

For India, such a conglomeration of the world’s financial powerhouses will be a first. “From the clients’ perspective, it makes ample sense for all of us to come under one roof,” said an investment banker. “Employee movement may not be that much of an issue considering that financial institutions in New York, London, and Hong Kong have co-existed in clusters for years.”

Others who have booked space for offices in the building include KFW, HypoVereinsbank and DEPFA of Germany, Halcyon Trading Company (a global consulting firm specialising in international business development with a particular emphasis on the international oil industry), Matrix Partners (a US and India private equity firm), India Equity Partners (an Indian private equity firm), and INOX (the films company). 

Goldman Sachs had also negotiated for space in the building, but the deal ultimately fell through.

The fact that the occupants will all be high-powered financial institutions has come about more by default than by design. Noshir Talati of Talati & Panthaky said: “The brief was to construct a building having the best of modern amenities.” Luxury, of course, comes at a price. “With the price set to appreciate between 5 and 7 per cent every year, occupants would be paying an average Rs600 per sq ft of super built-up area every month over the next five years,” he said. Only those with deep pockets can afford it.

SG Maheshwari of property brokers Maheshwari and Maheshwari, former president of the Estate Agents’ Association of India, said: “The rent is around Rs500 per sq ft of super built-up area per month, as against Rs200-225 in the adjoining buildings.”

Ceejay House is enclosed within Shivsagar Estate, which comprises nine buildings, including Shah House, Devchand House, Novartis House, Poonam Chamber A and Poonam Chamber B. At one point, the entire estate belonged to the Patel family. The approximately 60,000 square metres of area was bought by Praful’s father Monarbhai in the 1960s from the Maharaja of Gwalior. Since then, chunks have been sold off. Currently, Patel and his Ceejay Group own Ceejay House and a part of Shah House.