Connaught Place retail rents rose 14% in Q4 FY25, resurfaced Cushman & Wakefield report shows
Resurfacing a March 2025 Cushman & Wakefield report, retail-space rents in Delhi’s Connaught Place increased 14% in Q4 FY25, raising occupancy costs in one of India’s most prominent high-street shopping districts.
What happened
Retail-space rents in Delhi’s Connaught Place rose 14% during Q4 FY25, according to Cushman & Wakefield data, signalling higher occupancy costs for retailers in
Key facts
- 14% increase in retail-space rents
Why this matters
For expansion or acquisition underwriting, Connaught Place’s escalating rents increase the value of established locations while raising the hurdle rate for new-store economics.
What to watch
- Quarterly leasing velocity, vacancy levels and renewal outcomes across Connaught Place blocks.
- Reported retailer sales growth and sales-to-rent ratios for premium fashion, jewellery, beauty, restaurants and cafés.
- New flagship openings, closures or relocations by international brands and major Indian retail chains.
- Footfall trends from office attendance, tourism, metro usage and weekend spending in central Delhi.
- Whether new deals are signed at headline-rent increases or require rent-free periods, revenue-share structures and landlord-funded fit-outs.
- Rent movements in competing Delhi-NCR high streets and destination malls.
- Consumer discretionary spending, premium-category demand and inflation-driven pressure on retailer gross margins.
- Landlords are likely to reprice expiring leases, shorten lock-in negotiations selectively and seek higher minimum guarantees from flagship and F&B tenants.
- Large retailers will benchmark Connaught Place occupancy costs against Khan Market, Defence Colony, Select CITYWALK, DLF Avenue and Gurugram high streets before committing to new stores.
- Brands with existing Connaught Place stores will prioritize sales-per-square-foot improvements through assortment localization, premium product mixes, events and tourist-focused merchandising.
- Smaller legacy tenants may pursue subleasing, store downsizing, relocation to adjacent micro-markets or conversion to appointment-led and high-margin formats.
- Retail developers and brokers may use the rent increase to market other Delhi-NCR high streets as lower-cost alternatives for first physical-store launches.