Till a few years ago, it was impossible to string a sentence with the words Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), shopping and art. All that there was were tall, swanky office buildings. But now, the space has reinvented itself. We wander past the Jio World Drive in BKC, where we see large scale art installations spread across the floors, restaurants such as Cou Cou, Someplace Else and The Nutcracker, and high-end brands such as Calvin Klein, Emporio Armani, Kama Ayurveda, Onitsuka Tiger, Muji and more.
Just over a decade ago, BKC was not seen as anything more than a business hub. There was the occasional visit to Yauatcha, the Chinese dim sum teahouse for its delectable truffle edamame dumplings or to Sofitel Mumbai for its five-star setting. Today, it is possible to spend an entire day here — one can catch up on a dose of art and culture at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, shop for high-end clothing, accessories and beauty brands at Jio World Drive and watch a movie at its rooftop drive-in theatre, drop by for a cup of coffee at the country’s first Pret-E-Manger (UK-based coffee and sandwich chain) and wind up with dinner and drinks at any of the numerous upscale bars and restaurants that have cropped up with in the premises, which is spread over 370 hectares..
Once a marshy area between Bandra and Kurla, next to the Mithi River, BKC was built as a planned business hub by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to relieve traffic congestion in South Mumbai in 1977. Occupied by Government institutions and public sector banks in the ‘90s, the advent of the new millennium saw the opening of the Bharat Diamond Bourse — the world’s largest diamond exchange — and a slew of consulates of different countries like the UK, Australia, Belgium, and the Netherlands shifting to BKC. “Another feather in the cap for BKC was the shifting of the American consulate from Breach Candy,” shares Anuj Puri, chairman, Anarock Property Consultants, a real estate services company. .
In the last few years, Anuj informs, BKC has become one of the most premium office districts in the country with average rents of office buildings touching ₹285 per square foot per month. “In addition, BKC has not only seen some of the high-end luxury residential projects being constructed here but also a few five star hotels, schools, hospitals, and a high-end mall. Recently, Apple Inc. established its first flagship store in the country at BKC,” he states.
BFSI companies such as Bank of America, ICBC, and Citibank established their base in BKC, pharma companies like Abbott and Novartis took up office space and in recent times, new-age companies such as Google, Facebook, Dream 11, and Netflix have also established offices in the area.
In 2011, KA Hospitality became one of the first hospitality groups to open a standalone restaurant in the area, namely Yauatcha, opening up BKC’s potential for the burgeoning F&B market seen today. Karyna Bajaj, former executive director of the group, credits her father, the late Kishor Bajaj for recognising the potential of the area in spite of the challenges.
“While it was developed in terms of roads, it was not yet seen as a place for an experiential dining ,” says Bajaj. Getting the size they wanted for their restaurant (Yauatcha is spread over 13,000 square feet), accessibility due to its central location and reasonable real estate rates at the time, helped expedite their decision.
Dubai’s luxury dining restaurant Trésind opened its maiden Indian outpost in BKC in 2019. Some of the other F&B offerings include Butterfly High, O Pedro, Kyma, Amazonia, Gateway Taproom, Masala Library, Blah, Kitchen Garden, Noon, Taftoon, Soda Bottle Openerwala and Capital Social among others.
One of the most exciting launches in BKC is that of Chef Manish Mehrotra’s famed Delhi-based restaurant Indian Accent which opened its doors at the NMACC earlier this month. Amadeo by Oberoi, offering Japanese, Chinese, Italian and Indian cuisines, is another recent entrant at NMACC.
Among upcoming F&B offerings is restaurateur Pawan Shahri’s Mexican-European concept spread over 4,400 square feet and Chef Amninder Sandhu’s Indian regional cuisine restaurant, Bawri which recently opened its doors in Goa.
Numerous factors have contributed to this spurt of growth in the area. Anuj lists out a few — central location; improvement in physical infrastructure such as roads and transportation; its prominence as a notable financial hub drawing several large financial institutions, banks, and corporate offices; significant real estate development; improved social infrastructure such as parks, recreational places, schools, hospitals and evolution into a cultural and social hub with art galleries, exhibition centres, and performance venues.
While the Kala Ghoda area in South Mumbai with its multiple performance venues continues to remain the art district of the city, the opening of the multi-disciplinary NMACC inside the Jio World Centre has ensured that Mumbaikars staying in the suburbs do not have to travel all the way to SoBo to get their dose of art and culture.
“The presence of places like Jio World Drive and the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre have provided the much-needed missing link in transforming BKC into a 360-degree destination and making it self-sufficient. Due to the above places, BKC has come even closer to becoming a complete city in itself. These factors have led to increased demand for offices, housing, and retail and in turn, led to the rise in the prices of all asset classes,” Anuj adds.
According to a Reuters report, the upcoming Jio World Plaza by Reliance will be a luxury mall which will see the presence of at least 30 brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, Dior, Hermes, Cartier and Versace among others. “BKC is well on its way to becoming a hotspot for culture, food and fashion ,” concludes Anuj Puri.
