ABW Rectangle One Office for Rent, Saket Delhi

Office space for rent in ABW Rectangle One Saket is quoted at Rs 125, Rs 150 and Rs 170 per sq ft a month by three different listings for the same building. That is a 36 per cent spread, and it is not a disagreement about the market — it is a description of how a multi-tenant building actually works.

Why one building has three rates

Three things move a rate that far inside one address, and all three are answerable in a single conversation:

• Fit-out. A furnished floor and a bare-shell floor are different products. The furnished rate carries the landlord's capital for workstations, cabins, cabling and air conditioning; the bare-shell rate does not, and you spend that money yourself over three months before you move in. A Rs 45 per sq ft gap is roughly what a fit-out is worth amortised.
• Floor and outlook. This is a building of three basements, ground and five floors. A high floor with an outlook and a ground floor beside a service core do not let at the same rate anywhere.
• Who is letting it. Space here is held by multiple owners — a 1,732 sq ft unit is separately offered pre-rented for sale — so you may be negotiating with the developer, with an investor, or with a tenant subletting. Each has a different floor below which they will not go.

So the single most useful question here is not "what is the rate" but "what does this rate include, on which floor, from whom". A Rs 125 bare shell and a Rs 170 furnished suite can be the same deal once you have counted your own fit-out.

What the building is

Rectangle One is a Grade A building completed in 2006 at Saket District Centre, New Delhi, of three basements, ground and five floors. Space is available across an unusually wide range of sizes — listings run at 1,210, 1,500, 1,704, 1,732, 2,150, 2,750, 4,000, 5,000, 6,000, 7,500, 9,000, 12,000, 15,000, 20,000 and 25,000 sq ft.

That range is the building's real advantage. A twelve-person firm and a two-hundred-person one can both be served here, and a company that grows can move up inside the same address rather than relocating. Most Grade A buildings in Delhi NCR do one or the other; this one does both, because it is let by many owners in many parcels.

The metro, which is what you are paying for

Saket District Centre is served by the metro, and in Delhi that single fact separates two office markets. An address a short walk from a station draws a candidate pool that a car-dependent address cannot, and it removes the parking problem that dominates every other conversation about an office in this city.

Against the wider market, Rs 125 to Rs 170 sits in the middle of the Delhi NCR range:

You are paying roughly a quarter to a half more than a Gurugram campus for a South Delhi address on the metro, and well under half what the trophy tier costs. For a professional services firm whose clients visit, that is usually the right place on the curve.

A 2006 building: the questions that follow

Twenty years of lifts, chillers, common areas and basement waterproofing is the honest thing to examine here, because it is not visible on a floor plan and it is paid for out of maintenance.

1. What has the maintenance paid for in the last two years, and what is budgeted for the next two? A chiller replacement or a lift modernisation gets funded from the same charge you are agreeing to.
2. What is the power backup position, in kVA per thousand square feet, and what is it billed at?
3. Walk the basements at 11am on a weekday and count the parking. On a building with three basement levels and fifteen tenants, allocation is the thing that generates daily friction.
4. Carpet against super area, in writing. You pay on super and work on carpet; compare the carpet rate.
5. Escalation — cap it at a fixed step rather than accepting a market review at renewal.

Frequently asked questions

What is the office rent in ABW Rectangle One Saket?

Between about Rs 125 and Rs 170 per sq ft a month, with three separate listings quoting Rs 125, Rs 150 and Rs 170 for the same building. The spread is real and reflects fit-out, floor and who is letting the space, rather than disagreement about the market. Establish which of those applies before comparing the number with anything.

Why does the same building have three different rates?

Three reasons. Fit-out, because a furnished floor carries the landlord's capital for workstations, cabling and air conditioning and a bare shell does not — roughly a Rs 45 per sq ft difference amortised. Floor and outlook, since this is a building of three basements, ground and five floors and a high floor does not let like a ground one. And who is letting it: space here is held by multiple owners, with a 1,732 sq ft unit separately offered pre-rented for sale, so you may be dealing with the developer, an investor or a tenant subletting.

What sizes are available?

An unusually wide range: listings run at 1,210, 1,500, 1,704, 1,732, 2,150, 2,750, 4,000, 5,000, 6,000, 7,500, 9,000, 12,000, 15,000, 20,000 and 25,000 sq ft. That means a twelve-person firm and a two-hundred-person one can both be served, and a company that grows can move up inside the same building rather than relocating.

How old is the building and does that matter?

It was completed in 2006, so it carries twenty years of lifts, chillers, common areas and basement waterproofing — none of which shows on a floor plan and all of which is funded from maintenance. Ask what the maintenance has paid for in the last two years and what is budgeted for the next two, because a chiller replacement or a lift modernisation comes out of the charge you are agreeing to.

Is Rs 125 to Rs 170 reasonable for Delhi?

It sits in the middle of the range. An institutional campus in Gurugram runs about Rs 99 all-in, a comparable MG Road building about Rs 150 all-in, warm shell space at Aerocity about Rs 245 to Rs 250, and trophy-tier space on the Ring Road Rs 390 to Rs 450. You are paying a quarter to a half more than a Gurugram campus for a South Delhi address on the metro, and well under half what the trophy tier costs.

What should I settle before signing a lease here?

What the rate includes, on which floor, and from whom. The maintenance history and the next two years' budget, on a building of this age. The power backup in kVA per thousand square feet and how it is billed. The parking allocation, counted by walking the basements at 11am on a weekday. The carpet area against the super area, so you compare the carpet rate. And the escalation, capped at a fixed step rather than left to a market review.

Our view

This is one of the more sensible office propositions in South Delhi: a metro-served Grade A address at a rate well below the trophy tier, in a building that can hold you at 1,500 sq ft and still hold you at 15,000. The 36 per cent spread in quoted rates is not a red flag, it is an invitation — find out which end of it your specific requirement sits at, and negotiate from the Rs 125 rather than the Rs 170. On a 2006 building, spend the saved effort on the maintenance history.

In short: Rs 125 to Rs 170 per sq ft a month across the same building, a metro-served South Delhi address, and a size range from 1,210 to 25,000 sq ft.

For the top of the Delhi market, see Andaz at Aerocity and the Hyatt Regency tower at Bhikaji Cama Place. For the Gurugram alternative at two-thirds the rate, Candor TechSpace at Sector 21.