Retail leasing improves across Hyderabad malls in H2 of 2022

Hyderabad: Hyderabad recorded absorption of approximately 0.21 million sq ft in investment-grade malls, high streets and standalone during July-December (H2) of 2022, says real estate consulting firm CBRE South Asia Pvt Ltd, in its latest retail report, ‘CBRE India Retail Figures H2 2022’.

According to the report, leasing was mainly driven by fashion & apparel with a share of (51 per cent) in total absorption, followed by food & beverage (25 per cent) and hypermarket (10 per cent). The key transactions include – Azorte leased 15,000 sq ft in Sarath City Capital Mall, Haiku Brew leased 15,000 sq ft in Sarath City Capital Mall and Pantaloons leased 14,000 sq ft in Jain's Balaji Big Town.

On a pan-India basis, retail leasing grew by 21 per cent Y-o-Y in 2022 to 4.7 million sq ft, while supply in 2022 stood at 1.45 million sq ft. In Jul-Dec 2022, retail leasing grew by 5 per cent on a half-yearly basis and was at 2.43 million sq ft across key investment–grade malls, high streets and standalone developments. Supply grew by 129 per cent on a half-yearly basis and was at nearly 1.0 million sq ft.

Bangalore and Delhi-NCR, followed by Chennai and Mumbai, led leasing activity, together accounting for almost 80 per cent of the overall space take-up during H2 of 2022.

Fashion and apparel retailers continued to expand their footprint, accounting for a share of more than 42 per cent in overall leasing in H2 of 2022. Other prominent categories that continued to drive leasing activity during the period included food & beverage (12 per cent), along with hypermarkets (7 per cent). The entertainment category, which was impacted the most during the pandemic, also emerged as one of the top demand drivers with 6 per cent share in the overall space take-up.

The report elaborates on how shoppers returned to physical retail as cities began reopening after tapering of Covid-19. Since then, shoppers have been increasingly opting for ‘hybrid commerce’ – a mix of offline + online retail. CBRE’s Live-Work-Shop survey, whose findings will be released later this month, also indicated a strong preference for offline + online retail, with more than 90 per cent of respondents stating that they shopped via multiple channels.