Calcutta: Chowringhee, the coveted corporate address East of Suez in a bygone era, is witnessing for the first time in 15 years the construction of a modern office complex.

A structure with 18 floors, not counting the basement and the ground floor, is coming up on a plot located behind Metro Cinema in Esplanade with a completion goal of March 2019.

Christened Siddha Esplanade, the building is expected to house the corporate headquarters of its developer, the Siddha Group, on its top four floors. The remaining space will be offered for sale and lease.

The demand for office space in Calcutta has been lagging almost every other major city in the country. Real estate circles estimate the Siddha project will fetch Rs 15,000-Rs 16,000 a square foot - which tops the chart in Calcutta but is way below the Rs 40,000 similar space can command in Mumbai.

"Those who have offices in and around Chowringhee are interested as there is hardly any fresh supply of top-quality office space in the central business district," said Sanjay Jain, managing director of Siddha.

Although Chowringhee used to be compared with Piccadilly of London and Fifth Avenue of New York, the general decline of Calcutta and industry in Bengal, heritage rules and the complexities involved in dealing with innumerable tenants in old buildings had ensured that few new buildings came up on the long stretch from the Exide Crossing to Esplanade.

The last notable commercial complex to have been built on Chowringhee was the 10-floor JK Millennium Tower in 2003. Another new building, called 42, is being built but it is a residential project.

On the commercial front, the situation changed in December 2014 when the Siddha Group took over a 54-cottah plot that can be accessed from Chowringhee by a 44-foot-wide driveway that separates Metro Cinema and Metropolitan Building.

Siddha Group faced two challenges, both concerning neighbours. One, hawkers at the mouth of the driveway, with whom the realtor is holding negotiations and confident of arriving at a compromise.

The other neighbours are not open to negotiations, and the second test has to do with aesthetics. Siddha Esplanade will be standing next to some of the landmarks of Calcutta. By the time the Siddha project is completed, the revamped Metro Cinema is also scheduled to turn itself into a retail-multiplex complex.

Veteran adman Ram Ray has a word of caution: "This is going to be a challenging task. The structure (the Siddha project) must blend with the heart and soul of the locality. Remember, it will be standing next to the Metropolitan Building and surrounded by Victoria House, Statesman House, Shahid Minar and the Tipu Sultan Mosque."