Unity Small Finance Bank has purchased commercial properties in two separate locations in Mumbai in deals valued at around ₹400 crore, property registration documents showed.
The two transactions were registered on June 18, 2024.
In the first deal, valued at ₹227 crore, the private lender has secured several units in Wing A of Unity Towers located in Santacruz West, Mumbai. The seller in the big ticket transaction is Intercon Corporation Ltd, according to property registration documents accessed by FloorTap.com.
Simultaneously, multiple units were purchased from L&T Seawoods in Tower 1 of Navi Mumbai’s Seawoods Grand Central. This deal is valued at ₹165.60 crore, documents accessed by Propstack showed.
Email queries have been sent to Unity Small Finance Bank, Intercon Corporation Ltd and L&T Seawoods. The story will be updated once a response is received.
In the Santacruz West deal, the property purchased in Unity Towers includes units in the ground and upper basement, and the first floor of the multi-storied building spanning 70,030 square feet. Additionally, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th floors have been taken over completely by Unity Small Finance Ltd, as part of the transaction. The deal also includes parking space for 120 cars, the documents shared by Floortap showed.
This latest purchase is in close vicinity of the bank’s corporate office in Santacruz East. A stamp duty of ₹13.62 crore was levied on the transaction, the documents showed.
In the second deal, the company bought as many as 20 office units in Seawoods Grand Central with a combined carpet area of 97,920 square feet, for ₹165.60 crore, the documents shared by Propstack showed.
Also Read: Office market surges to 16.2 mn sq ft transactions in Q1 2024; Residential sector keeps pace with sale of 86,345 units
Founded by Centrum Financial Services and BharatPe, Unity Small Finance Bank is a digital-first lender, headquartered in Mumbai. According to data available in the public domain, the bank has a network of 140 branches, spread across 25 cities.
The Mumbai-headquartered banking entity registered a 75% year-on-year jump in net income to ₹981 crore in financial year 2023-24. Meanwhile its net profit grew 12-fold to ₹439 crore. “The company’s shareholders’ fund includes around ₹1,900 crore, making the bank well capitalized for such a purchase,” a source told HT Digital.
Outright purchase versus lease
Commercial real estate experts, who spoke to HT Digital, said that there has been an increase in the number of corporates buying commercial real estate space rather than going in for lease.
“Larger corporates and business conglomerates, particularly from technology and BFSI sector, having clarity over long-term real estate requirements, perhaps find it economically more viable to own commercial assets,” said Vimal Nadar, who heads research at property consultancy Colliers.
Recently, the UK Consulate bought 12 office units from Macrotech Developers Ltd, which operates under the Lodha brand, in the project One Lodha Place in Lower Parel, Mumbai, for ₹101.2 crore.
Also Read: UK Consulate buys office space in Mumbai’s Lower Parel area from Lodha Group for ₹101.2 crore
In February this year, Bandhan Bank Ltd had purchased 12 commercial units in INS Tower, Bandra Kurla Complex, in Mumbai for ₹135.64 crore, documents accessed by FloorTap.com, a marketplace for commercial properties showed.
Also Read: Bandhan Bank purchases 12 commercial units in Mumbai’s BKC for ₹135 crore
