1-million-sq. ft. Chennai office for Standard Chartered Bank- DLF to invest 550 crore

On Monday DLF confirmed a proposed investment of Rs 550 crore for constructing one-million-square-feet office building in Chennai for Standard Chartered Global Business Services’ largest campus globally.

Real estate giant DLF on Monday announced an investment of around Rs 550 crore to construct a one-million-square-feet office building for Standard Chartered Global Business Services’ largest campus globally. The foundation stone for the project was laid down by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin in ‘ DLF Downtown ‘ project at Taramani in Chennai.

DLF had pre-leased 7.7 lakh sq. ft. office space to Standard Chartered Global Business Services (GBS) in October 2020, and offered to take the remaining area.

“We are developing a one-million-square-feet building, which has two blocks, for Standard Chartered GBS. The total construction cost is estimated at around Rs 550 crore,” managing director of DLF Rental Business Sriram Khattar quoted.

The DLF Downtown-Chennai project, is a huge project which is spread over 27 acres and comprises of 6.8 million sq. ft. area. It is being developed by DLF Cyber City Developers Ltd (DCCDL) with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore.

DCCDL is a joint venture between DLF and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC.

The construction will be done in phases, DLF is constructing a total of 3.3 million square feet area in the first phase including one million square feet building for Standard Chartered.

The construction of 2.3 million square feet has started and will be completed by next financial year ending. The Standard Chartered campus is proposed to be completed by mid-2024.

Khattar told the media the company has its presence in the state for the last 17 years and operates the largest IT SEZ ‘DLF Cybercity, Chennai’ at Manapakkam comprising 7.2 million square feet area.

This SEZ has contributed a cumulative export revenue of about Rs 84,000 crore since its inception and around 70,000 professionals are working, he added.

Khattar said, “Once DLF Downtown is completed and operational, DLF will have a footprint of about 14 million square feet of commercial workspaces in the city, making it the second-largest market after Gurugram”

He showed enthusiasm about investments in Tamil Nadu as it is now being regarded as a fast emerging leading global hub for IT/ ITeS, manufacturing and R&D.

“A development like DLF Downtown in a location like Taramani should generate the income of Rs 700-750 crore when fully functional,” he said, adding that around 70,000 employees will work from DLF Downtown Chennai.

DLF Offices Executive Director Amit Grover said: “The project is designed with high-end specifications and has been awarded a Platinum LEED Certification by US Green Building Council.”

Matthew Norris, global head at Standard Chartered GBS, said: “We envision that our largest campus globally at DLF Downtown Taramani will define the future of work with its people-centric design around hybrid work patterns, further enhancing employee wellness, engagement and productivity with sustainable measures.”