Shopping complex rents to go up

The Chennai Corporation has commenced the process of increasing the rental rates for its shopping complexes across the city.

The Corporation council is expected to pass a resolution increasing the rates in various zones of the city. Recommendations have already been made to increase the rents by ten times in some zones.

Until now, the rents have been low in all the shopping complexes of the Corporation. They range between Rs. 10 and Rs. 50 per sq ft. The revised rents will match the existing rental values in the neighbourhood.

Recently, the civic body initiated measures to control individuals who prevent those willing to pay more from participating in the auctions.

The Corporation has restricted the number of shops that can be licensed to an individual in shopping complexes. Persons who already have one shop have been asked to surrender it before getting another shop on rent.

The civic body owns 113 shopping complexes with 5,811 shops in the 15 zones of the city. The licence period of the shops is one year and the licensee is required to pay a monthly fee to the civic body.