Knowledge Realty Trust to invest Rs 700 cr to build 1.4 mn sq ft office space in Bengaluru

Realty firm Knowledge Realty Trust (KRT) will invest Rs 700 crore over the next three years to develop 1.4 lakh sq ft of office space in Bengaluru as part of its expansion plan, a top company official said.

KRT is a real estate investment trust (REIT), sponsored by realtor Sattva Group and investment firm Blackstone.

In an interview with PTI, KRT Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shirish Godbole said the company is looking for the acquisition of prime office assets to grow business organically.

He highlighted that the company performed well during the last fiscal, and it is expecting to continue the growth momentum during 2026-27 on all important metrics such as Net Operating Income (NOI) and distribution to unitholders.

Godbole noted that the demand for office space remains strong, primarily driven by foreign companies that want to set up Global Capability Centres (GCCs).

He asserted that the company's portfolio is AI (artificial intelligence) resilient, with bulk of its workspaces occupied by GCCs and front office.

KRT has a total portfolio of 29 premium office assets totalling 46.5 million square feet area, of which 37.2 million square feet is completed, 2.6 million square feet is under construction, and 6.6 million square feet of future development area is spread across 6 cities.

Asked about projects under construction, Godbole said 1.2 million sq ft of office space is almost complete, while the construction works on the 1.4 million sq ft area have just started.

KRT will invest around Rs 700 crore over the next three years on this upcoming 1.4 million sq ft office space in Bengaluru.

That apart, Godbole said, ''We are looking for acquisitions for inorganic growth. We are in the market.''.

He also mentioned that around 25 per cent of its current portfolio are leased below market rent, creating huge scope for growth in the total rental income.

KRT currently has a debt of around Rs 12,000 crore.

Recently, KRT announced a distribution of Rs 716.6 crore to unitholders for the quarter ended March.

The cumulative distributions since listing in August 2025 touched Rs 2,101.9 crore, or Rs 4.74 per unit.

In the fourth quarter of 2025-26, the company achieved gross leasing of 1.1 million square feet, taking cumulative leasing for FY26 to 3.5 million square feet and portfolio occupancy to 92 per cent.

The NOI (Net Operating Income) rose 14 per cent to Rs 1,053.3 crore during the January-March period of the last fiscal from Rs 924.8 crore in the year-ago period.

During the 2025-26 fiscal year, the company's NOI increased 18 per cent year-on-year to Rs 4,048.4 crore.

Godbole said, ''We enter FY27 with strong operating momentum, a resilient balance sheet and multiple visible growth levers''.

He said the company expects the leasing number in 2026-27 to be at a similar level, which is around 3.5 million square feet, including both fresh leasing and renewals.

Ruling out any adverse impact of demand for its office spaces, Godbole said, ''We have an AI-resilient portfolio backed by three attributes -- 45 per cent of gross rentals from GCC occupiers; negligible exposure to traditional IT services sector; and 31 per cent of portfolio value in front office assets.''

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)