Restaurants accept exit offer from Trade View Building at Utopia City to accommodate Swedish international retail giant IKEA across 80,000 square feet. But who’s complaining?
Swedish lifestyle giant and leading home furnishing retailer, IKEA, was looking for a massive space to open its second outlet in South Mumbai, after debuting with its Navi Mumbai outpost. Pics/Suresh Karkera
All good things come to an end. Sometimes, for the better. Trade View Building at Utopia City on Pandurang Budhkar Marg, Worli, once part of the consolidated Kamala Mills compound, is living this adage.
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In 2015, it fuelled the hospitality boom, as space after space was leasing out to some of the coolest restaurants and bars, forming an F&B hub for central and south Mumbai. Trade View Building housed top attractions Riyaaz Amlani’s Flea Bazaar Café, AD Singh’s Lady Baga and Fatty Bao, Boo Kim’s Dirty Buns, Zorawar Kalra’s Shanghai High, and Anjan Chatterjee’s POH, and Indigo Hospitality’s Doh.
The going was great until the horrific fire of December 29, 2017, that erupted at rooftop-bar One Above, housed in the nearby Trade Housing Building. It killed 14 and injured several. That one tragedy was enough to jinx the business for most eateries in Kamala Mills as top restaurateurs struggled to survive. Before they had fully recovered, the pandemic hit, creating a bloodbath.
But like with some tragedies, gloom can bring with it opportunity. Swedish lifestyle giant and leading home furnishing retailer, IKEA, was looking for a massive space to open its second outlet in South Mumbai, after debuting in the city with its Navi Mumbai outpost. Traditionally designed to offer everything under one roof, IKEA found 80,000 square feet under one roof. A source on condition of anonymity confirms that the approximate monthly rent could be to the tune of R1.5 crore. IKEA’s spokesperson chose not to comment on the detail when mid-day reached out to them. The building also houses gaming complex Smaaash, Indian fashion and home decor chain Fabindia. European fashion brand Jack and Jones, we hear, is slated to open in the same location within the next four months.
AD Singh and Chirag Maru
For this to see the light of day, Trade View Building’s developer offered an exit to the group of restaurants that were already bleeding. Owner of Utopia City and Trade View Building, Nikhil Gowani says the original plan was to rent to retail outlets on a long-term basis. “When we first started in 2015, the city was experiencing an F&B boom, so we welcomed the restaurants. When we found a better opportunity with IKEA, we offered the eateries a hardship fee to vacate. We do, however, plan in future to create a restaurant hub as part of a larger development plan that we hope to undertake in a more organised manner [than the last time]. The idea is to offer an overall experience to visitors.”
Veteran restaurateur AD Singh agrees that it wasn’t easy here post the fire. “Business had crashed and we were hurting. By the end of last year, the offer to exit was floated and we decided to take it up and shutter Fatty Bao and Lady Baga. It made sense.” Singh shares that over the years, he has realised that cluster F&B hubs don’t spell success. “People come in with a plan to eat at a particular restaurant. They are not usually in a mood to discover a new place. We feel mixed usage is much better, since visitors then come in for a variety of reasons. And here, choosing a restaurant becomes a spontaneous decision. In future, I don’t think I will place my brand into a food hub. The entry of IKEA is a good thing for the market and the neighbourhood.”
Zorawar Kalra’s Massive Group occupied two spaces here—Younion in Kamala Mills, which continues to do business, and Shanghai High in Trade View. “IKEA is a good addition to the overall theme,” he agrees. “It will attract incidental footfall. After the fire, restaurants lost a lot of business, and during the pandemic, coming to a common ground on rentals was a challenge. We got a good deal for Younion, which is back to seeing positive numbers again.”
Oye Kake is the only restaurant from the original group that preferred to stay within the mill, but move out of the building. “When we opened in 2015, we were the first to arrive at Trade View. Other restaurants followed and we became the heart of the mill. When IKEA came, we decided to stay because we have loyal customers in the vicinity,” says Pankaj Gupta of the eatery that offers Amritsari cuisine in the heart of Mumbai. It moved to Bombay Hub on the Kamala Mills side in October.
Two among the restaurants to exit were AD Singh’s Lady Baga that used to serve Goa-inspired food with a contemporary flourish, and Anjan Chatterjee’s POH
Priyank Sukhija then seems to be the last man standing. One of the highest grossing outlets in the building, his lounge Lord of the Drinks, hasn’t moved out of Trade View yet. “We have the longest bar in Asia. Even when the pandemic struck, we were not ready to give up on our restaurant. We did whatever was needed to save the restaurant and braved the losses. With about 6,000 visitors expected at IKEA every day, even if we were to get five per cent of that as spillover, we’d be rich and not have enough tables to accommodate them,” Sukhija tells us.
Kavitha Rao, Country Commercial Manager, at IKEA India, says the brand’s market research entailed understanding what life at home in Mumbai is like.
A day after the December 29, 2017 fire at a Kamala Mills bar, a demolition drive was conducted by the BMC, pulling down over 300-odd illegal structures at F&B establishments at the affected compound and elsewhere in the city. Pic/Getty Images
The Worli city store spread across 80,000 square feet, is small compared to the large format 4 lakh sq feet outpost in Navi Mumbai. “We made it a point to understand the Mumbaikar’s dreams, challenges even their frustrations. This, so that we could bring products and solutions from our inventory of 8,000 products to address requirements. Across the world, whenever IKEA pops up, the vicinity sees a lot of development. We have other retail outlets as well as restaurants for neighbours and our eco-system aims towards overall growth.”
Kamala and Utopia
Last year, Kamala Mills was split into two: Kamala Mills on the Lower Parel side (which was sold to different buyers) and Utopia City on Pandurang Budhkar Marg (owned by Nikhil Gowani). A wall now divides the two sections.
The real estate pro says
Chirag Maru, restaurant real estate expert
“IKEA’s entry is a blessing in disguise. Restaurants were dying a natural death, and when the deal came through, they were offered an exit fee, asked to remove the furniture assets and part on amicable terms. A compensation was offered. Then, the pandemic struck. Restaurants who took this exit offer are in a better position today.”
2017
The year a fire that killed 14 pulled the brakes on the business of most restaurants and bars in Kamala Mills
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