Motijheel, once the pulsing heart of Dhaka's trade and commerce, has become a shadow of its former self. Empty office floors now whisper tales of abandoned ambitions.

For example, take the Ittefaq Mor-Dilkusha-Naya Paltan stretch. The two-kilometre patch has some 40 commercial buildings standing by one side of the road. Around 22 of them now have "to-let" signs dangling.

Their yearslong wait for tenants speaks of a commercial exodus that has drained the lifeblood from what was once Dhaka's most vibrant business hub.

Most buildings have not found tenants since the previous occupants left in the past five years. Besides, existing businesses, banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) are moving to Gulshan, Banani or Baridhara.

New businesses are also hesitant to assume a business address in the old town area.

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Banks shun old-time Motijheel for glitzy Gulshan

Take Adamjee Court Annex Building-2, located next to Motijheel park, as another example.

Once a busy 12-story building rented by a bank, it was full of people and activity.

After the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, the bank began to relocate its head office to Gulshan area in phases. Now, most floors in the building remain empty, leaving it gloomy even in daylight.

The scene is similar at the DSE Annex Building, roughly a 15-minute walk from Adamjee Court building. During a visit there recently, the 11-story structure was found eerily quiet at 1:00 PM, with only two or three people in the elevator.

This was beyond anyone's wildest imagination just a few years ago.

In the 2010s, when the building was full of stock brokerage firms, people had to queue just to enter the elevator. All the main activities of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) were also handled inside the building from 1959 until 2019.

Consequently, it was one of the busiest buildings in the area during trading hours. But now it is deserted in the middle of the day.

After the DSE relocated its office to its own building in Nikunja, thousands of square feet of space have remained vacant in the commercial structure.

Two brokerage houses and an insurance company have posted relocation signs, stating that they are also departing for greener pastures.

A similar sight was found at the Jibon Bima Tower in Dilkusha, where the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) rented space for its office since the 1990s.

Two floors, each boasting 6,200 square feet, now remain vacant in the building after the BSEC shifted to its own building in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in 2017.

Banks, whose headquarters once dominated Motijheel, earning it the status as the capital's downtown area, have mostly relocated to Gulshan.

A number of building owners in Motijheel said they are not getting commercial tenants despite offering comparatively lower rents.

Md Delwar Hossain, the owner of a building in Dilkusha, said he has been searching for tenants for four years as one floor remains vacant.

This area was highly sought-after in the 90s, with commercial spaces fetching the highest rents across all of Dhaka. But few people now call him to inquire about the floor.

"While the building itself is now old-fashioned, there are many vacant spaces that are not that old. The problem is that large conglomerates, banks, NBFIs and new-generation corporations are not coming to this area," Hossain said.

Most businesses were concentrated in Motijheel due to easy communication and proximity to public offices, he added.

Officials at Sadharan Bima Corporation, which has several buildings in Motijheel, said they have thousands of square feet of vacant spaces across their properties.

According to them, although vacant commercial floors have been a common sight in Motijheel for years, rents have not reduced. However, the increase in rent is slower than in other areas.

The average rent per square foot in this area ranges from Tk 60 to Tk 90, depending on location and amenities.

This is still lower than the rent one would expect to pay in newer commercial hubs like Gulshan and Banani.

According to bdproperty.com, a website for renting and selling real estate, the average rent in Gulshan range from Tk 180 to Tk 250 per square foot. In Banani, it ranges from Tk 70 to Tk 150.

Alongside the shift in commercial offices, cinemas in the area are also suffering.

Modhumita Cinema Hall, located on Toynbee Road, was once a top-rated movie theatre. But now it opens irregularly amid a dearth of visitors.

The situation is even worse for Ovishar Cinema Hall, which has been closed since the pandemic.

Md Liton, owner of Ovishar Store located next to the cinema hall, said he started his shop in the 1990s. Back then, he and his three brothers used to sell snacks.

The area surrounding the cinema hall was once swarming with people, who gathered to watch movies. As the cinema business declined, his three brothers left the store in search of other jobs.

Liton said that people once bought cinema tickets from the black market at prices three times higher than the official rate. Now, the hall building has become a ghost palace, having been closed for years. People now flock to the multiplexes in large shopping malls to enjoy movies.

Motahar Hossain Masum, who grew up near the Old Dhaka area and visits Motijheel frequently, said although banks have relocated their offices, several top food sellers remain and continue to attract a large number of people.

The self-professed gourmand shared some insights into the cuisine scene.

Established in 1958, Deshbandhu Hotel continues to serve food that evokes nostalgia for many.

Other popular hotels in the area include Ghoroa and Hirajheel. These hotels welcome a large number of diners daily.

In the 1980s, when the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) building was constructed, its cafeteria attracted white-collar officials with its upscale design and quality food, Masum said.

Purbani Hotel also has a long history of attracting white-collar people, he added.

Motijheel's transformation into a different place at night is striking.

As people rush home after work, the area becomes eerily quiet. On weekends and public holidays, the streets in Motijheel host cricket, football, or badminton for children.