DLF South Court Office for Rent, Saket New Delhi

Office space for rent in DLF South Court Saket Delhi is quoted at two different rates, and the gap between them is Rs 35 per sq ft a month.

One quote is Rs 180 per sq ft a month. The other is about Rs 120 per sq ft with Rs 25 per sq ft of common area maintenance — Rs 145 all-in. On a 10,000 sq ft floor that is a difference of Rs 3.5 lakh a month, or Rs 2.1 crore over a five-year term. Any shortlist that carries this building needs to establish which of the two it is looking at before anything else.

Which rate to believe

The lower one, on the evidence. Grade A space across Saket District Centre has held a range of about Rs 90 to Rs 175 per sq ft a month, so Rs 180 sits at or above the top of the published band for the entire district centre, while Rs 120 plus Rs 25 sits comfortably inside it.

That does not make Rs 180 a fiction. It makes it an asking rate on a particular floor — probably furnished, probably a good one — rather than the building's rent. Treat it as the ceiling and the Rs 145 as the working number, and make the landlord tell you which floor carries which.

What Saket District Centre is

DDA-auctioned land on Press Enclave Marg, developed as Grade A commercial only. Floor plates run from about 1,000 sq ft to 30,000 or 40,000 sq ft, with central air conditioning, high-speed lifts and manned and electronic security across the buildings. It is the main institutional office address in South Delhi, and what sits around it is the Select Citywalk and DLF Place mall cluster, Max Saket and the Saket metro station rather than an office park.

That mix is the whole case for the address. Staff get a Yellow Line station and a retail and food cluster on the doorstep; clients get somewhere they can find. The cost is that the district centre is finished — no new plots are coming — so supply is fixed and rents do not soften the way a Gurgaon corridor's do when a new tower delivers.

The building

DLF South Court was completed in 2010: three basements, ground and seven floors, Grade A, with power backup, basement parking and the usual central services. Listings have run from about 3,000 sq ft to about 26,875 sq ft, which covers a twenty-person office and a whole floor in the same building — unusual, and the practical reason to look here rather than only at the district centre generally. Two international agencies market space in it, which is a reasonable proxy for the floor plates being institutional in size and the landlord being one you can hold to a contract.

Quoted move-in is one to three months including fit-out, furnishing and legal formalities. That is a normal Grade A timetable for shell space. A furnished floor compresses it to the legal work, at the price of inheriting a layout you did not design.

What it costs against Gurgaon

Saket at Rs 145 and MG Road at Rs 150 are, to a rounding, the same money. The choice between them is not cost: it is whether your staff live in South Delhi or South Gurgaon, and whether your clients are in one or the other. For a firm whose people are already south of the Ring Road, the Gurgaon commute is the expense, not the rent.

Five things to settle before you sign

1. Which rate, and on which floor. Rs 180 and Rs 145 are both in circulation for this building. Get the specific floor, the specific rate and the maintenance in one document.
2. The maintenance figure. Rs 25 per sq ft is what one quote attaches. At the lower rent that is a sixth of the occupancy cost. Ask for last year's actual, not the budget.
3. Carpet area in writing. Quoted rates in this district centre are on super area. The loading decides whether a rate is fair, and it is not the same in two buildings.
4. Parking. Saket District Centre shares its parking pressure with a mall cluster. Allocation in writing, counted, or it is not yours.
5. Escalation and lock-in. On a five-year term the compounding is worth more than a few rupees off the headline. Cap the escalation rather than accepting a market review.

Our view

This is a sound South Delhi Grade A address where the only real hazard is the quote you are handed. The building is fine, the district centre is the best commercial address south of the Ring Road, and at Rs 145 all-in it is priced where Saket Grade A should be. At Rs 180 it is at the top of a band the whole district centre sits inside, and you should be asking what that particular floor has that the rest of Saket does not.

In short: Work from Rs 145, not Rs 180, until somebody shows you the floor that justifies the difference.

Frequently asked questions

What is the office rent in DLF South Court Saket?

Two rates circulate and they are Rs 35 apart once maintenance is counted. One quote is Rs 180 per sq ft a month. The other is about Rs 120 per sq ft with Rs 25 per sq ft common area maintenance, which is Rs 145 all-in. Ask which of the two you are being offered and what the maintenance is on top, because the difference on a 10,000 sq ft floor is Rs 3.5 lakh a month.

Which of those two rates is more realistic?

The lower one. Grade A space in Saket has held a range of about Rs 90 to Rs 175 per sq ft a month, so Rs 180 sits at or above the top of the published band for the whole district centre, while Rs 120 plus Rs 25 sits comfortably inside it. Treat Rs 180 as an asking rate on a particular floor rather than as the building's rent.

What is Saket District Centre?

DDA-auctioned land developed as Grade A commercial only, on Press Enclave Marg in South Delhi. Floor plates run from about 1,000 sq ft to 30,000 or 40,000 sq ft, with central air conditioning, high-speed lifts and round-the-clock security across the buildings. It is the main institutional office address in South Delhi, and its neighbours are the Select Citywalk and DLF Place mall cluster rather than an office park.

How big are the floors in DLF South Court?

The building runs three basements, ground and seven floors, and listings have ranged from about 3,000 sq ft up to about 26,875 sq ft. That covers a twenty-person office and a whole floor, which is unusual in one building and is the practical reason to look here.

How long does it take to move in?

One to three months is the quoted average to move into space here, including fit-out, furnishing and the legal formalities. That is a normal Grade A timetable for bare or warm shell space. A furnished floor compresses it to the legal work alone, which is the trade-off against inheriting somebody else's layout.

What should I negotiate hardest on?

The maintenance rate and the escalation. Rs 25 per sq ft is what one quote attaches here, and it is a sixth of the occupancy cost at the lower rent. Then the escalation: on a five-year term the compounding is worth more than a few rupees off the headline, so cap it rather than agreeing to a market review.