Candor TechSpace Office for Rent, Sector 21 Gurgaon

Office space for rent in Candor TechSpace Sector 21 Gurgaon is quoted at about Rs 80 per sq ft a month, with common-area maintenance of about Rs 19. The number to put in a budget is Rs 99 per sq ft a month, and the maintenance line is not a footnote — it is a fifth of what you will actually pay.

What Rs 99 all-in buys, in context

On a 20,000 sq ft floor that is Rs 16 lakh a month in rent and Rs 3.8 lakh in maintenance — Rs 19.8 lakh before electricity, diesel generator units, parking bays and 18 per cent GST. Over a five-year term with the usual 12 per cent escalation every three years, the maintenance line alone runs past Rs 2.4 crore. It belongs in the offer letter, not the fit-out meeting.

Against the Gurugram spread, Rs 99 all-in sits in the middle: well above the Sohna Road Grade A level of about Rs 75 all-in, and well below MG Road, where a comparable building runs about Rs 150 all-in. You are paying a campus premium over the road-side buildings and a location discount against the metro-served addresses.

The question every listing leaves out: is this space inside the SEZ?

This campus is described as an IT, ITeS and SEZ integrated development, and that single letter changes who is allowed to occupy the space at all.

Space inside a notified Special Economic Zone processing area is not available on an ordinary commercial lease to an ordinary business. An occupier there has to be an approved SEZ unit, with a letter of approval from the Development Commissioner, operating under SEZ customs and compliance rules. A domestic-tariff-area business — a law firm, a consultancy, a company selling into India — cannot simply sign a lease and move in.

So ask, in writing, before anything else: is the specific floor you are being offered inside the notified processing area, inside a de-notified portion, or in a non-SEZ block? Campuses of this kind commonly hold all three, and a leasing agent quoting Rs 80 per sq ft may be quoting space your business is not eligible to take. Get the answer from the landlord, referenced to the floor and the block, not from a portal listing.

If the space is SEZ and you are eligible, it can be an advantage rather than an obstacle — but it comes with customs procedures, unit-level compliance and an exit process that an ordinary lease does not have. Budget professional time for it.

What the campus is, and who your neighbours are

Candor TechSpace at Sector 21 is a campus of about 27.68 acres at Dundahera on the Old Delhi-Gurgaon Road, held within Brookfield's portfolio and forming part of the Brookfield India REIT. Named occupiers include Accenture, RBS, Bank of America and Sapient.

Both of those facts matter more to a tenant than any amenity list.

• An institutional landlord. A REIT-owned campus runs on standardised leases, published governance and professional facilities management. You will get fewer creative concessions than from a private landlord, and far fewer surprises — no disputed maintenance, no sudden change of management agency, no building running on goodwill.
• Fortune 500 neighbours. An occupier list of that quality tells you the building services, the power backup and the security actually work, because those tenants audit them. It also tells you the landlord will not accept a weak covenant lightly, so a small firm should expect to be asked for a larger deposit or a bank guarantee.

Where it sits

Dundahera is at the Delhi end of the Old Delhi-Gurgaon Road, close to the border and to IGI Airport, and it is one of the older parts of Gurugram's office map rather than one of the newer corridors. For a workforce living in south and west Delhi that is a genuine advantage — the commute runs against the main Gurugram flow rather than with it. For staff living in the newer southern sectors it is the opposite.

Before signing, run the actual journey your median employee would make, at 9am on a weekday. A campus with a great tenant list is still the wrong building if your team spends ninety minutes reaching it.

The five things to settle before you sign

1. SEZ status of the specific floor, in writing, referenced to the block.
2. The CAM rate and what it covers, with last year's actual against the budget. Rs 19 per sq ft is a fifth of your cost.
3. Carpet against super area. You pay on super; you work on carpet. Ask for both figures and compare the carpet rate, not the headline.
4. Parking bays, counted. On a campus this size parking is allocated by ratio, and the ratio is negotiable at signing and never afterwards.
5. Escalation. Twelve per cent every three years is the Gurugram structure. Cap it rather than accepting a market review at renewal.

Frequently asked questions

What is the office rent in Candor TechSpace Sector 21 Gurgaon?

About Rs 80 per sq ft a month, plus common-area maintenance of about Rs 19 per sq ft. The figure to budget is Rs 99 per sq ft a month before electricity, parking and GST. On a 20,000 sq ft floor that is about Rs 19.8 lakh a month, of which Rs 3.8 lakh is maintenance.

Is Rs 99 all-in good for Gurugram?

It sits in the middle of the market. Sohna Road Grade A runs about Rs 75 all-in and MG Road about Rs 150 all-in for a comparable building, so you are paying a campus premium over road-side stock and a discount against the metro-served addresses. Whether that trade works depends entirely on where your staff live.

Can any company take space in Candor TechSpace?

Not necessarily, and this is the question listings never raise. The campus is described as an IT, ITeS and SEZ integrated development, and space inside a notified SEZ processing area is only available to an approved SEZ unit holding a letter of approval from the Development Commissioner. A domestic business cannot simply sign a lease there. Ask the landlord in writing whether the specific floor is inside the processing area, inside a de-notified portion, or in a non-SEZ block.

Who owns and runs the campus?

It sits within Brookfield's portfolio and forms part of the Brookfield India REIT, on about 27.68 acres at Dundahera on the Old Delhi-Gurgaon Road. Named occupiers include Accenture, RBS, Bank of America and Sapient. An institutional landlord means standardised leases and professional facilities management — fewer creative concessions, and far fewer surprises.

What should a smaller company expect here?

To be asked for a larger security deposit or a bank guarantee. A landlord with Fortune 500 tenants will not accept a weak covenant lightly, and the campus is built around large floor plates rather than small suites. If your requirement is under a few thousand square feet, establish early whether anything of that size exists before spending time on the rate.

What should I check before signing a lease here?

Five things. The SEZ status of the specific floor, in writing. The CAM rate and what it covers, with last year's actual against budget. The carpet area against the super area, so you can compare the carpet rate rather than the headline. The parking ratio, which is negotiable at signing and never afterwards. And the escalation clause, where 12 per cent every three years is the Gurugram norm and is worth capping rather than leaving to a market review.

Our view

This is a well-run institutional campus at a fair middle-market rate, and the rent is not the interesting part of the decision. The interesting part is eligibility: an SEZ campus can rule your business out entirely, or rule it in with a compliance burden you have not budgeted for, and no listing page will tell you which. Settle that in writing, then negotiate the maintenance and the parking ratio, in that order.

In short: Rs 99 per sq ft a month all-in, an institutional landlord with Fortune 500 neighbours, and one question about SEZ status that has to be answered before the rate matters at all.

For the same market at the lower end, see ILD Trade Centre on Sohna Road. For a mall office at about a third of this rate, Omaxe Gurgaon Mall in Sector 49, and for the Delhi end of the same decision, ABW Rectangle One at Saket.