U.S.-based retail grocery chain Hy-Vee, Inc. has secured a 10-year lease for a 54,000-square-foot office space in Karle Tech Park, located on the Outer Ring Road in North Bengaluru. The company announced the move on August 12.
As reported by the Hindustan Times, the new office, set to accommodate up to 350 employees, features a garden city theme and includes 17 meeting rooms, various collaboration spaces, and phone pods. It also boasts a Lalbagh-themed glasshouse and recreational facilities such as a pool table, table tennis, dart boards, foosball, and a unique punching bag.
Hy-Vee’s expansion is part of its strategy to utilize India’s talent pool for a range of technical and non-technical roles, facilitating 24/7 project operations. The company had previously established its global capability center, Helpful Smiles Technology Global (HST Global), in a 25,000-square-foot space at Manyata Tech Park last year.
Lalitha JS, site lead for HST Global – India, emphasized that the new office space mirrors the successful elements of Hy-Vee’s U.S. offices and reflects the garden city concept of Bengaluru.
Travis Hoover, Chief Data Officer at Hy-Vee, expressed excitement about the growth of the HST Global team and the benefits the new space will bring to Hy-Vee’s global operations.
India has seen a surge in interest from global capability centers (GCCs) in recent years. Data from 2022 through the first half of 2024 shows that GCCs leased nearly 53 million square feet of office space across major Indian cities including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, and Delhi-NCR. Bengaluru has emerged as the top market, attributed to its strong talent pool, mature technology sector, and favorable business environment.
In the first half of 2024, GCCs accounted for 37 percent of the total office space absorption in India’s six major cities, with Bengaluru leading in leasing activity. The city’s growing appeal is supported by Karnataka’s upcoming GCC policy, expected to further boost job creation and GCC setups.
Between 2018 and 2023, Bengaluru saw 1,368 office deals by GCCs. Of these, 983 were in the sub-50,000 square feet range, 206 ranged from 50,000 to 100,000 square feet, and approximately 179 deals were for spaces larger than 100,000 square feet.
Hy-Vee’s new lease underscores the city’s prominence as a key location for global business expansion.