Monthly Archives: April 2008

Hot Property

April 30, 2008 – 6:50 am

Is it the exact price for the property? Perhaps this is the question that keeps on creeping in people’s mind ever since they make up their mind to buy or sell a property. So it is important to spot the right price for making a successful real estate deal. There are certain things which every one should keep in mind to arrive at the decent levels of property-valuation and deal are:
1. Excellent roads in the border of and within the society add value to the property.
2. Value depends on the profile of the locality where the property is located.
3. Connectivity with transport equally important for buyer’s point of view. In fact, property in surrounding area to these facilities makes sound investment proposition.
4. People avoids locality that are nearer to riot prone area or communally polarized.
5. Not to mention, green atmosphere, civic facilities like safe drinking water, continuous power supply and proper drainage system are the first choice of the buyer.

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Babcock Forms India Team, Eyes $2 Billion Assets

April 30, 2008 – 6:49 am

Australia investment bank manager Babcock & Brown hopes to invest in $2 billion of Indian property and infrastructure assets within three years and has poached nine investment bankers from ABN AMRO for the task.

Mr. Jaginder Singh Pasricha, executive director for business development in India, told Reuters the infrastructure specialists he pinched from the Dutch bank had started their fund on Monday. Read More »

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Warburg Pincus Invests $75 Million In Jaipur’s Unique Affordable Homes

April 30, 2008 – 6:48 am

‘Affordable homes business’ is going to be the next big trend in Indian real estate sector. Global private equity firm Warburg Pincus will invest $75 million in Unique Affordable Homes Pvt Ltd, part of the Jaipur-based Mannat Group company. The company will build affordable housing projects in North and Western India. In its first pure play real estate deal in india, Warburg Pincus will provide an initial equity line of up to $ 75 million to the venture. The deal was facilitated by Asipac. AZB & Partners provided legal advice to Warburg Pincus, while Chir Amrit Law Chambers assisted Unique Builders on the transaction. Read More »

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Real Estate Developers looking for advanced technology to reduce the cost

April 29, 2008 – 2:24 am

Mumbai, Apr 28 Real estate developers in India are planning alternative measures to reduce costs of construction by around 15 to 20% owing to the current hike in raw material inputs costs for construction, particularly, cement. Red Fort Capital, in association with Nagarjuna Constructions and DLF, has replaced the use of cement in residential and hotel projects with cellular light weight concrete.
Besides, Red Fort Capital is presently talking to big developers in India to replace the use of cement with cellular light weight concrete. “This will benefit real estate developers in reducing costs of construction by 15%.
This is an promising trend in the Indian real estate market,” Kuldip Chawlla, director, Red Fort Capital Advisors Private Ltd, told FE.
According to Chawlla, “Cellular light weight concrete reduces the weight of cement needed in beams and columns, making them more durable, long lasting and generate cost of savings of upto at Rs 100 to Rs 200 per sq ft. Not only that, with the use of cellular light weight concrete, developers will be able to build affordable homes targeted at middle income groups at a much faster pace. ”
Big developers such as Larsen & Toubro, Hiranandani Constructions, Rahejas, Unitech, DLF and Kalpataru are looking at using cellular light weight concrete instead of cement for certain projects. Red Fort Capital is currently talking to these players to provide them with alternative options in construction.

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Reality Of Realty Mutual Funds

April 28, 2008 – 7:50 am

All the decks have been cleared for the launch of Real Estate Mutual Funds (REMFs) in India, with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) notifying amended regulations for such products last week. For mutual fund investors, this may mean a welcome relief from the stream of new equity fund offerings, playing on every imaginable theme, that have clamored for attention over the past three years. But don’t hope for this to happen in near future. Read More »

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Blackstone Real Estate Partners To Invest In Synergy

April 28, 2008 – 7:49 am

Blackstone Real Estate Partners announced that it agreed to invest approximately 18 million dollars for a minority stake with board representation in Synergy Property Development Services Private Ltd.

Synergy, Formed in 2003, is now one of the top projects and construction management companies in India and currently has over 500 employees across nine Indian offices, with international offices in Dubai and Kualalumpur. Read More »

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Ascott Group Enters Into Hyderabad Real Estate

April 28, 2008 – 7:48 am

The Ascott Group (Ascott) has acquired its first serviced residence with more than two hundred units in Ahmedabad. The investment is a joint venture with The Rattha Group (Rattha), a company in the field of exports, infrastructure development and leasing. Ascott has invested more than two hundred fifty million rupees for the project and will take a 40 percent stake in the joint venture, with Rattha holding the remaining. With the latest addition, Ascott’s portfolio in India grows to 1,398 units across six properties which are currently under development. Read More »

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DLF Plans Multiplexes In Different Part Of Country

April 28, 2008 – 7:44 am

PropertyWala.com

Chandigarh: DLF, a leading real estate player in the country, plans to invest Rs 1,250 crore for the development of its multiplex business. The company has planned to add minimum 500 screens in the next four to five years across the country.
DLF’s entertainment arm DT Cinemas will set up a megaplex, which will have 12 screens with a total capacity of 2,500, as part of their upcoming project, Mall of India, at Gurgaon.
Expected to be one of the country’s biggest malls, it will cover an area of 40 lakh sq ft.
DT Cinemas announced the opening of their multiplex at DLF Infocity, IT Park, Chandigarh. Infocity covers an area of 1,90,000 sq ft and most of the space has been leased out. The mall will start operating within the next 10-12 days.
Kajal Aijaz, CEO, DT Cinemas, said that with the multiplex offering state-of-the-art facilities like Christie cinema projection system, excellent acoustics, wall-to-wall carpeting, extra legroom with comfortable slideback seating and push back armrests for the audience, they were eyeing about 66 per cent occupancy at the multiplex in the first year.
With DLF planning to set up another 120 malls in different parts of the country, DT Cinemas would be the chief attraction in most of these malls.
Apart from Ludhiana and Jalandhar, where multiplexes would be opened in a couple of years, the company is also opening multiplexes at Savitri-GK2, Shalimar Bagh, Vasant Kunj and Saket in Delhi and Star Mall, Gurgaon, this year, Aijaz said.
DT Cinemas will also set up multiplexes in Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Goa and Kolkata.

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The Land Bank Again And The Benificiary’s Shree Precoated

April 26, 2008 – 8:59 am

The counter of Shree Precoated is witnessing sustained investment-based buying by investors. The buzz is that the company is going to register good numbers. Analysts say the company is expected to report a PAT of more than two hundred crore on revenue of Rs two thousand crore for financial year 2007-08. The company is looking to develop its 67 acres Kanjuurmarg property, which it had acquired for more than forty crore about 30 years ago. Read More »

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Indian Property Expo In Qatar

April 26, 2008 – 8:58 am

India property expo in Qatar is in the eyes of investors. More than thirty Indian builders are participating in this expo with their home projects. This expo is going on in Ramada plaza hotel.

The two-day expo was opened by Dr. Mohan Thomas, President of the Indian Community Benevolent Fund.

The expo will showcase projects in Cochin, Kannur, Thiruvananthapuram, Thalassery, Thrissur, Munnar, Jaipur, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai.

Read More »

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Trident Hilton Now Trident Hotel

April 26, 2008 – 8:58 am

On the last day of the Hilton-Oberoi strategic alliance PRS Oberoi chairman emeritus of EIH, re-launched the Trident Hilton hotels as Trident hotel. Speaking on the occasion, Oberoi said that all nine Trident Hiltons (located at Gurgaon, Mumbai, Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur, Kochi, Bhubaneshwar and Chennai) will now be rebranded as Trident.
Rattan Keswani, the newly-appointed president of the Trident brand, in his new designation will be responsible for all growth activities of the brand. Talking about the end of Hilton-Oberoi alliance, Mr.Oberoi said, “It was not a fallout but a mutual decision made by both parties. Hilton’s alliance with a real estate company will only lead to brand confusion in terms of Trident Hilton properties and other Hilton-owned properties.”

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SEBI Allows Launch Of Real Estate MFs

April 26, 2008 – 8:58 am

SEBI has allowed mutual funds to launch real estate mutual fund (REMF) schemes, a move that will encourage investors to participate in and benefit from the real estate boom. Existing MFs can launch the REMF schemes, provided “…they have adequate number of experienced key personnel/directors,” Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said in a notification.

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Mahindra’s Jaipur SEZ To Become Partly Operational From July

April 26, 2008 – 8:57 am

The Special Economic Zone being developed by Mahindras at Jaipur will become partly operational in July with first group of clients moving in, a top official said on Friday.

Mr. Arun Nanda, vice-chairman of the company told that Mahindra Lifespace Developers, the real estate and infrastructure development arm of the USD 6 billion Mahindra group, has also started buying land at Karla, near Pune, for an SEZ project.

He said that the company has managed to get a premium of 20 to 40% over the current market rate for some of its residential projects in Mumbai and Faridabad.

He said that the company has an estimated land bank of 35 million square feet across the country and expanding to new places like Nashik and Nagpur.

Mr. Nanda said that earlier people were talking about the long gestation periods faced by the company. But now onwards, the company will see far more accelerated growth. The story is now unfolding. There will be unlocking of profits.

The company has 1.5 million square feet of space under construction at present.

Referring to the SEZs, he said that the company has the distinction of promoting the first successful SEZ in private sector at Chennai, now known as Mahindra World City. The second SEZ at Jaipur is progressing well and the first group of clients, which includes Infosys, will move in in July. It would take couple of more years for the entire SEZ to become operational.

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Costliest Kerala Flats Being Built At Kochi

April 26, 2008 – 8:56 am

KOCHI: The Dewa Group promoted by NRI businessman K Venugopalan Nair is foraying into the real estate sector in Kerala with an Rs30 billion project, which includes a super luxury apartment complex on the Marine Drive here.
The complex ‘Dewa Royale’, spread across six acres of premium property reclaimed as part of the Goshree project, will be launched today, group chairman K Venugopalan Nair told reporters here.
“We will set new standard for residential space creation in the state in terms of quality of construction and construction material,” he said claiming it was the first project in India that provides a 10-year warranty for the entire complex.
The warranty would be applicable for electrical installations, bathing systems and a slew of instruments, which includes even screws used for fixing doors and windows. On offer are 400 apartments facing Kochi backwaters in six towers surrounded by four acres of landscaped garden that would cost around Rs35mn.
According to Nair the entire project will come up in a 22.5 acre land and the first phase would be completed by 2011 at an estimated cost of Rs15billon. The project also includes a five-star hotel and a convention centre. Most of the investors are Kuwait-based NRIs.
The group and its allied companies have substantial real estate holding in the major cities of India, including Bangalore, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, he said.
CPG of Singapore is the master planners of the project while the landscaping is by Guy Stuart & Associates of Australia and X-design from Canada handle interior Space management, he said.
The complex also provides state-of-the-art safety systems and facilities, which includes front doors that expand and resist fire for over an hour or bathrooms that sense and takes care of foul smell.

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Audi plans to sell 1,200 units India in 2008

April 25, 2008 – 7:35 am

Considering the boom in the luxury car segment in the country, German car maker Audi said on Friday it expects to sell 1,200 units in India by the year.

The company is also ready to start assembling its, yet to be launched, A4 variant in the country with an investment of 10 million euros. Read More »

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Commercial Development of Vacant Railway Land

April 25, 2008 – 6:46 am

The Ministry of Railways have set up Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) by an amendment to Railways Act, 1989 (Amendment No. 47 of 2005) for commercial development of vacant railway land for generating revenue. So far 115 sites, covering a total area of 1139 hectares (approx) have been entrusted to the Authority for commercial development at different places. In addition, 26 stations located in metropolitan cities and important centers have been identified for redevelopment as world class stations through Public Private Participation (PPP) by leveraging the real-estate potential of the land around and the air space above the stations.

As per current thinking Railway land is to be given to developers for commercial development through transparent bidding process on long term lease basis for development work without any budgetary resources. The work of redevelopment of identified 26 stations into World Class Stations are planned to be undertaken through PPP basis.

No funds from Railway Budget are envisaged to be invested except to the extent of meeting requirement of viability gap funding in exceptional cases of development of stations as World Class Stations.

The 26 stations identified for redevelopment as World Class Stations through PPP are : Nagpur, Pune, Carnac Bunder (Mumbai), Howrah, Lucknow, Anand Vihar (Delhi), Bijwasan (Delhi), Amritsar, Chandigarh, New Delhi, Varanasi, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Secunderabad, Tirupati, Ahmedabad, Patna, Bhubaneshwar, Mathura, Bangalore, Gaya, Jaipur, Agra, Bhopal (Habibganj), Kanpur and Guwahati.

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SatyaVani Group To Invest $10 Mn In Real Estate

April 24, 2008 – 10:34 am

SatyaVani Green Homes, Hyderabad-based real estate developers and part of the SatyVani group of companies, has decided to invest over ten million dollars in Udhodayam Green Homes.

Mr. P Surya Prakash, Managing Director, SatyaVani group of companies, said, “UGH will set an example on how construction industry can built a better tomorrow by not adding to the global warming concerns. We have designed our projects in such a manner that people would not have to sacrifice their comforts and will live in a healthy environment”. Read More »

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Realty Bites Tech Hubs in Bangalore, Chennai

April 24, 2008 – 10:32 am

The stock of unoccupied properties with real estate developers in the main technology hubs of Bangalore and Chennai is mounting and indications are that their problems will only get worse as software companies head towards greener pastures.

Read More »

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Sub-Prime Shadow on Indian Realty

April 24, 2008 – 10:30 am

The turmoil in the global financial markets has cast its shadow on India’s largest real estate deal. Delhi-based developer BPTP Ltd, which was banking on overseas institutions to fund the acquisition of 94 acres of prime land at Noida for Rs 5,006 crore, has sought an extension to pay the first installment of the money. Read More »

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Underworld Interest In Real Estate

April 24, 2008 – 2:44 am

Pune, April 23 With the recovery of documents pertaining to 241 real estate projects at different stages of construction in the city from gangster-turned-legislator Arun Gawli’s brother Vijay Ahir’s residence, the Mumbai Police Crime Branch is proactively making telephone calls to all builder whose project is among the 241. Crime Branch officials will inquire each builder whether he received any extortion threat.
“The documents pertain to 241 city projects which contain tenders to the (Slum Rehabilitation Authority) and the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA). We are calling up every builders concerned to ask them whether they were called to Dagdi Chawl or received extortion threats from Gawli or any of the other accused,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria.
Gawli, Ahir and six other accused have been arrested by Unit 3 of the Crime Branch for allegedly issuing extortion demands to a city builder. They have been booked for extortion, criminal conspiracy, intimidation and house trespass. “We are asking builders to come forward and lodge complaints if they have been threatened, and we are promising full security for them and their families if they do lodge complaints,” said Maria.
According to Maria, the Crime Branch has been keeping a close eye on the several SRA projects in the city, in order to collect intelligence on underworld interests in the realty sector.
The Crime Branch on Friday last also sent a letter to the Union Food and Civil Suppies Ministry after an identity card showing Ahir to be a member of a central government task force on food processing units in Maharashtra was recovered from his house.
“We have asked the Ministry to confirm if Ahir really is a member of the task force. Ahir has two prior criminal offences registered against him — an extortion case in 1993 and a preparation to commit dacoity case in 1999. If he is actually a member of the task force, we have asked the Ministry how he might have been appointed despite a criminal record,” said Maria.
The Crime Branch has also written to authorities at GT Hospital seeking explanation about conflicting opinions given by two doctors when Gawli was taken to hospital for a compulsory check-up after his arrest.
“When we took him to GT Hospital, he was complaining of dysentery and hypertension. While a doctor had cleared his check-up, another hospital doctor gave a conflicting medical opinion which could have affected police custody. We have informed the medical authorities about this,” said Maria.

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A Real Estate Show At Chandigarh

April 23, 2008 – 7:01 am

A unique presentation on Building, Construction products and services including the Real estate is planned in the Chandigarh. This presentation will be organized by Brohawk Group and known as “City Beautiful”. This exhibition named “Construction Organizers Show 2008” will be organized in Parade Ground, Sector 17, Chandigarh from 2nd Oct to 5th Oct.2008. General public will view the new upcoming technologies in the world of construction.
This exhibition is first of its kind bringing all Building, Construction and Real estate industries on the single platform to explore new Customers, Ideas and Technology. The presence of Govt. sector and Private sector on one place will definitely give a boost to these Industries. The expected visitors to this exhibition are around two lacks from all around the country which will increase the Tourism in the city along with the Business.

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Is realty seeing a correction at last?

April 23, 2008 – 7:00 am

The unending euphoria over real estate, which India has been witnessing over the past few years, is finally starting to show signs of ebbing, and that is probably healthy news for the long-term growth of this sector. Collapse of a few recent PE deals, postponement of capital-raising plans by developers and poor response to government land auctions are indicators of the “expected slowdown” in Indian real estate chapter. Read More »

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Rakindo Enters Coimbatore Realty

April 23, 2008 – 6:58 am

Rakindo Developers Pvt Ltd setting up an integrated township project at Coimbatore with an estimated investment of six thousand crore rupees. Rakindo Developers is a joint venture company formed by RAKEEN and Trimex group. RAKEEN is a global business company where as Trimex group is chennai based mineral conglomerate. Read More »

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Ayala Penetrates Indian Property Market

April 23, 2008 – 5:53 am

ARCH Capital Asian Partners L.P., the private equity real estate fund of Ayala group, has formed a JV with the Mahindra Group of India for the development of a residential community in Chennai. Read More »

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Realty deals bring Rs 23,000 cr during January-March

April 23, 2008 – 5:12 am

MUMBAI: Retard in the real estate market notwithstanding, land deals in India are thriving. According to a current study, the total value of such deals, in the first three months of 2008, have touched around Rs 23,000 crore, while another Rs 10,000-crore worth deals are in the pipeline.

A study by top brokerage JPMorgan shows that Delhi-based developer BPTP’s Rs 5,000- crore land deal in Noida was the largest deal in the January-March period, while the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s land auctions in Bandra Kurla Complex had fetched around Rs 4,000 crore.

The deals in the pipeline include the Indian Railway’s fifty acres worth Rs 10,000 crore that is scheduled to be auctioned later. Also, a one hundred fifteen crore deal between the Balaji group and Prestige group is likely to be completed soon.

In Mumbai, a two hundred fiftycrore deal by Hindustan Composites is in the concluding stage, in which developers such as DLF, Kalpataru and K Raheja Corp are the lead bidders. The JPMorgan report comes at a time when it is predicted that a tightening in global liquidity and a slowdown in the economy, could put the brakes on the real estate sector which witnessed a sharp rising growth in the past two years.

As a reflection of this slowdown, developers’ plans including malls, complexes and residential projects are all being kept under wraps. Property prices and rentals have been falling which was also seen in the loss of investor interest and an erosion in the market capitalisation of large listed players such as DLF and Unitech. The slowdown is also aided by the fall in stock markets as there is now a lack of capital among investors to invest in real estate projects.

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