That Motijheel as a corporate commercial hub is losing its charm is only to be expected. Companies and businesses nowadays are opting for rather more posh places such as Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara and Mohakhali DOHS areas in the capital for their offices. There are many reasons for this shift in importance. To speak the truth, Motijheel, a small area with its rather narrow roads and small parking places, fails to give modern amenities the businesses or companies usually seek.
Even greater an obstacle than these is the travel time that it often takes for people to reach Motijheel because of the bumper-to-bumper gridlock of vehicles that occurs all too often. The country’s Secretariat, the Supreme Court and many other government offices are also located near Motijheel. That is why going to Motijheel, popularly known as “Office Para” in the morning and coming from the place in the afternoon becomes a harrowing tale for commuters who use various routes to go to and come from Motijheel. If other places with a touch of green and adequate parking spaces can give comfortable communication, very naturally these places will draw the attention of the business entrepreneurs. Here one can consider how the importance of Old Dhaka of the colonial British period lost its significance.
Therefore, a lifestyle report of The New Nation on Monday rightly pointed out that multiple factors like lack of qualitative office space, absence of quality property, crunch in car parking; street protests that send schedules haywire and make communication a nightmare are responsible for Motijheel’s declining importance as a corporate business hub. The report has also pertinently mentioned that there is also a lack of qualitative residential facilities at Motijheel and its surrounding areas.
With the dwindling of demand, rent of office spaces at Motijheel is also falling. According to the report of the daily, the space rent in Motijheel area was Tk 70-110 per square feet in 2013 but now it has reduced to Tk 40-50 per square feet, that means, just by half. Still, spaces of such important buildings as that of the DCCI, Bangladesh Sugar Corporation, FBCCI, Biman and BADC Bhaban are remaining vacant for a long time.
However, despite this loss in importance, it can be said that Motijheel’s value as a corporate commercial hub will not totally be lost. When the metro rail will open, presumably in next year, Motijheel on the contrary may gain some of its lost importance.
