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Saturday, December 27, 2014

Indians find Dubai real estate more lucrative in 2014

LAHORE: Non Resident Indians in Dubai have shown overwhelming interest in real estate investment as according to a data available, NRI investment in Dubai property market stood at $2.27 billion, followed by expats from the United Kingdom and Pakistan in 2014.

Experts feel that the uncertainty of turnaround in Indian real estate market was the reason that more and more NRIs in Gulf are parking their money in locally, primarily on real estate investment. According to a recent report, New Delhi real estate market has witnessed 20-30 per cent fall in real estate prices in 2014 forcing a distress sale in secondary realty market.

Dubai Real Estate

According to the CEO of leading UAE real estate portal bayut.com, Haider Ali Khan, despite the sagging economic growth, Indians and Pakistanis invested heavily in Dubai real estate market in 2013-14.

Pakistanis have invested $1.23 billion in first six months of year 2014 and became third biggest country that has invested huge money in UAE, while people from UK have pumped in $ 1.36 billion in Dubai’s property market.

Haider Ali Khan said that Indians in Dubai have shown more interest than any other expats and have invested a whooping $2.27 billion during the first six months of 2014.

Khan said, “Dubai is the most attractive real estate market for many countries, primarily due to the reforms introduced after the financial crisis of 2008.” Adding that during the turmoil, many property developers had defaulted, shaking the confidence of investors.

Now, after the introduction of new laws, the real estate market is once again strengthening, he added.


Khan pointed out that most mature real estate markets are protected by law and the Pakistani government should gradually work to introduce some real estate laws, so that investor confidence improves and practices like the Biana system – 20% to 30% advance payment – should be stopped which hurts confidence. This will help the market mature, he added.

RMZ Latitude bags CNBC Awaaz Real Estate 2014 award

RMZ Latitude, a residential tower launched by the leading luxury home maker RMZ Homes, has bagged the CNBC Awaaz Real Estate Award 2014 for the Best Residential Project under the Luxury Segment in Bangalore city.

The award was presented by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation M. Venkaiah Naidu to AN Venugopal, Managing Director - Development, Projects, RMZ Corp.


Set amidst sprawling 3.9 acres of luscious, verdant greenery and tree-lined boulevards, RMZ Latitude is situated in Hebbal, Bangalore. While RMZ Latitude’s luxurious apartments and premium penthouses were designed by world-renowned architect Oru Bose, the exquisitely designed landscape was done by MPFP of New York.

The year 2011 marked the advent of RMZ Homes into the residential sector. Since then, RMZ Homes has been steadily gaining foothold and establishing its strong presence in the buzzing Bangalore and Chennai cities.

Poised to redefine the concept of 'Living Beautifully', the company has three luxury residential developments namely: RMZ Galleria, RMZ Latitude and RMZ Sawaan spread across Bangalore. 

Being a leading corporate real estate developer with an impressive portfolio of building commercial office spaces, RMZ Homes leverages the skills honed in professional property management into the residential properties developed by it. The properties come fully equipped with all conceivable amenities and services.

About RMZ Corp:


RMZ Corp is one of the largest real estate developers in India with over 15 million square feet of prime real estate developments built since its inception in 2002. RMZ's expertise in development of commercial office spaces has propelled us to expand our horizon and embark on developing state of the art residential, retail and hospitality spaces.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Indian real estate: Will there be turnaround in 2015?

Anuj Puri, Chairman & Country Head, JLL India, dwells into the difficulties faced by Real estate sector in 2014 and what the New Year holds for the Indian real estate. Will there be a turnaround? Will the government push the stalled real estate regulatory Bill, Land Acquisition Bill and Real estate Investment Trusts to propagate the growth in the already sagging sector? Let’s read on...


The year 2014 has been quite fruitful for the real estate sector in terms of business sentiment, although the real effect of many of the policies and amendments announced in 2014 will take effect only in 2015. Starting from Union Budget FY2014-15, where affordable housing was considered on par with infrastructure, to relaxation of rigidities in the Land Acquisition and Real Estate Regulatory Bill, India’s new Prime Minister has been offering the India real estate sector consistent doses of energy.

The winds of change are now blowing more perceptibly. Inflation, including the house price component, has now been reduced to the lowest level in recallable history. Property buyers are back in force in most cities as enquiries have rebounded, and developers are finally reading the writing on the wall more accurately and coming in with the kind of supply that is relevant to demand.

Meanwhile multinationals that were hesitant to foray into the Indian market because of the uninspiring political environment are now dusting off their plans for India and getting their entry vehicles back in gear. Going by the recent reports of recruitment agencies, many more jobs will be created in 2015 – especially in the IT/ITeS, manufacturing and services sectors – and the demand for homes will increase visibly. Also, REITs are hitting the market at long last, and only a few details need to be sorted out before they get the funding wheels spinning.

2015 will definitely be a good year for the real estate sector

Indian real estate

The threat of inflation has completely submerged, and borrowing rates are sure to go down from the current levels. This will encourage potential buyers planning to avail of home loans to finally take the plunge. Also, with property prices staying stable and good deals being offered by developers in order to clear their inventory, fence-sitting buyers be further encouraged to press the ‘buy’ button.

Economic activity is gradually picking up, and the Central Bank anticipates GDP growth to reach 6.5% y/y in the next financial year (FY2015-16). Corporate India has already made it clear that there will be more hiring of talent to help tackle rising business activity. Put together, this means a rise in jobs and incomes, which in turn is very favourable for both residential and commercial real estate.

The market has witnessed a re-orientation and developers are now largely focusing on affordable homes. This will go a long way, though definitely not all the way, in bridging the existing wide gap between demand and supply of affordable homes.

Residential Real Estate

Indian residential real estate

During the year 2014, new launches of residential units saw a consistent fall every quarter as a consequence of the subdued demand and high prices. While this was largely the case with high-end projects, the affordable housing segment definitely began to gain favour. This segment was firmly lodged under the priority schemes of the government and central bank, and buyers were seen finding comfort in investing in such projects given the smaller ticket sizes and improving connectivity in the suburbs of the major cities.

In the second half of 2014, many large developers who in the recent past concentrated on the mid-to-high segment due to better margins were seen eager to play the volume game and entering into affordable-segment projects in the deeper suburbs. This heartening trend began the ground work on bridging the wedge between demand and supply in our major metropolitan cities. Since developers are sitting on close to 30 months of unsold inventory in the mid-to-high-end segment, we also saw an increase in cash flows because of this new focus.

Completions, Net Absorption & Unsold Inventory – Residential

In 2015, developers will become more earnest about right-sizing and right-pricing their offerings. Smaller, yet better-designed and more efficient homes will define the residential real estate market in 2015, and selective corrections in some of the over-priced cities will help bring about faster sales for stagnated supply of larger configurations. Townships will become more prevalent, and the supply of luxury homes will moderate to align with the slow demand dynamics for these offerings.

Pricing Trends

A large portion of the total unsold residential inventory is in the under-construction projects, while completed projects have only moderate vacancy. Home buyers looking for ready-possession property will therefore find limited room for negotiations when compared to buyers who can wait for some time to get possession. The attractive schemes that were doled out by developers in under-construction projects during the festive season of 2014 are likely to continue into 2015.

2015 will see home buyers benefiting from reduced borrowing rates, increased developer-focus on affordable homes, largely stable prices, and better job and income prospects.

Affordable Housing

Affordable housing

Affordable housing will clearly be the flavour of the season in 2015. While the ruling government at the Centre and the Central Bank have clearly spelled out their intention to push for affordable housing, it is the State governments which will need to take the implementation initiative. The recently concluded elections have clearly indicated that better governance, planning and good implementation are factors on which performance will be evaluated, and affordable housing is an important yardstick for sure.

While affordability will always be a subjective term that assumes different meanings in different markets of India, every city does have its own affordability threshold and benchmark. Developers active in each of the primary cities are now fully aware that they must address the demand for affordable housing in their cities, and stop focusing excessively on high-end and luxury offerings.

Affordable housing is in itself not a difficult format to deliver; the challenging part for many developers will be to align this format with their existing brand image without impacting it. Quite a few prominent developers already have a budget housing strategy, but they have evolved this strategy over time and ensured that the creation of such projects becomes a natural extension of their brands. For the newer entrants who have so far focused exclusively on higher-end housing, the process will begin only now – and for all but the die-hard firms that will not budge from their ‘creamy layer’ orientation, the process is unavoidable.

Indian real estate sector

Coming anywhere close to negating the affordable housing gap altogether would take about two decades of focussed supply – and going by previous market learnings, it is unlikely that developers will retain their current focus on affordable housing once the economy picks up sufficiently to make higher-end housing desirable once again. However, as long as the current momentum and orientation prevails, we will at least see some good headway being made on this front in 2015.

Commercial Real Estate

Over the past few years until 2014, the supply of office real estate was higher than demand by 4 to 10 million sq ft. Our reading is that developer had been too optimistic in their anticipation of a revival in economic activity.

Though office real estate prices failed to recover from the after-effects of the financial crisis up to late 2014, we did see the beginning of a gradual turnaround. This can be attributed to the fact that commercial real estate developers began to strategically reduce the incoming supply to a new-normal level of occupier demand in the range of 27 to 30 million sq. ft. each year. This helped bring down the vacancy rate to 17% from more than 18.5% just a year ago.

In 2015, demand will remain in this range, marginally improving from the level seen in 2014. However, with the rupee weakening to below INR 62/USD at the current time and India’s GDP growth likely to strengthen further, the positive risk to this forecast of a sharp uptick in demand cannot be ruled out though.

Interestingly, while office real estate have not recovered fully from the fall in prices post GFC (unlike residential) there is significant room for upside in the event of a positive change in business sentiment. In fact, such an improvement was already seen after the general elections and is already reflecting in year-end office market leases. The trend of moderate-to-healthy leasing activity will continue in 2015.

Pan-India New Completions, Absorptions and Vacancy – Office

Retail Real Estate

In 2014, the retail real estate sector was one of the biggest casualties to market conditions that increasingly favoured the online retail community, with the exclusion of well-managed and leasehold organised retail malls. Strata-sold, poorly-managed, badly-located retail properties lost lustre as more retailers chose to avoid them.

2014 also saw a few of these malls either converting into Grade B office space or reeling under the compounding effect of rising vacancy rates. Vacancy in poorly-built and operated malls was as high as 20%, while good quality malls were relatively better off with about 10% of vacant space. The ecommerce frenzy that has been taking India by storm over the last two years was at its peak during 2014, and now poses a serious challenge to physical retailers and mall developers. The situation is compounded by the absence of adequate regulation on ecommerce in India currently.

However, a handful of mall developers have risen to this challenge by identifying key transitions that could help them sail through. The measures they have undertaken include a revamped tenant mix, adoption of the mixed-use format and delivering theme-based shopping experiences. These practices are now common in overseas markets, and Indian retail malls will be seen adapting to them more rapidly in 2015.

Pan-India New Completions, Absorptions and Vacancy – Retail

Real Estate Capital Markets

2014 saw gradual growth in demand for Indian real estate, particularly after the general elections in May. Concurrently, fund raising activities picked up, and this momentum will continue in 2015 as well. We will see less of one-way investments and more of partnerships between investors and developers and other land owners.

Joint venture and club funding will become the preferred mode as 2015 progresses. With the improvement of the economic situation, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata will start attracting sizeable investments along with the top three metros of Mumbai, NCR and Bangalore. This will be a notable change from dynamics seen in the past, wherein only these three cities ruled the roost. In fact, we will see Grade A commercial properties in tier 2 and tier 3 cities appear on the radar of investors, though a full-on focus on these opportunities will probably not take place in 2015.

Attractively-placed office assets and high-demand residential categories, especially well-located mid-income projects, will continue seeing considerable investments in 2015.While investors may continue to show limited interest in retail real estate, we will see increased interest in the hospitality sector as compared to previous year.

REITs got a green signal from the government in 2014, and this will help ease the pressure on the balance sheets of cash-starved developers. However, the listing of new REITs will be slow and steady. While REITs will succeed over the longer term, they need to pass through the challenging phase ahead for them over the next two years.

Real Estate Regulation

On the regulatory front, Indian real estate will continue to faces a fair share of problems in 2015.There are currently still a number of vital regulations and initiatives related to real estate that have been gathering dust on bureaucratic tables. These need to be fast-tracked and implemented in 2015, because they are crucial for the real estate sector’s growth and graduation from opaqueness to transparency.

Real estate in India
While many believe that there is little done by the currently ruling government for the real estate sector, there is a positive sentiment underway owing to small but significant steps taken in the right direction by the new government.

In the recent past, two landmark policies that were introduced by the central government were the Land Acquisition, Redevelopment and Rehabilitation (LARR) Bill and the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA – yet to be ratified). However, after almost a year of these two bills being introduced, there has not been much progress. This is largely due to tough clauses included in both these bills, which were actively debated throughout 2014.  Some of those clauses were seen as limiting the ability of the industry to function smoothly.

The newly-elected government has astutely identified the limiting factors within the two bills and attempted to rectify them rather than introduce new regulations that would merely add to the burden of ‘lip-service’ reforms. In that sense, the present government has done its homework before taking up the task of resolving issues of the real estate sector.

Once finalised, the revised bills will appear more investor-friendly and create a favourable environment for developers, buyers, and investors to operate in 2015 as the key changes mooted in the two bills are:

Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (LARR)

 The single-biggest hurdle that the entire real estate sector will face in 2015 is related to land – the very foundation stone of all real estate. The finite and all important commodity of land is caught in a regulatory stranglehold that we hope to finally see loosened in 2015 – especially given the incumbent government’s vision of establishing 100 Smart Cities, which gives rise to serious questions about feasibility. The creation of these 100 smart cities will entail significant volumes of land – massive, contiguous land parcels.

In the manner that the new government has envisaged, these smart cities will essentially be brand-new municipalities on the peripheries of our major cities. With its avowed commitment of launching 100 smart cities, the government is de facto also making itself responsible for making the required land available. How exactly will this happen?

The LARR (Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement) Act was formulated and re-formulated to counter land-related bureaucracy in India. On the ground, it has actually done quite the opposite ad become a deterrent for developers as well as investors to operate in the Indian real estate and infrastructure space.

The real estate sector is desperate to get past this hurdle. It is not just a question of making land available for primary real estate development; the government has correctly identified infrastructure development as they key to accelerated economic growth, and infrastructure is highly land-centric.

The modified LARR Act which was put into effect last year by the UPA government attempted to reduce the bureaucracy involved. However, it failed to achieve this purpose and in fact only increased the existing complexities. Given the new government’s sharp focus on ‘housing for all’, fast-tracking of infrastructure and the creation of 100 smart cities across the country, there is very clearly a pressing need to revisit this Act in 2015. Provisions in the bill such as the significant rise in compensation to original inhabitants, the tedious rehabilitation clauses and other norms need to be relaxed if it is to serve its purpose of untangling complexities and delivering a fair shake to all stakeholders.

Consent clause: The current legislation requires the acquisition process to go through mandatory consent of at least 70% locals for PPP projects and 80% consent for private projects. This clause is difficult to implement, considering the large number of people involved in the entire rehabilitation process. The fact that the government is planning to renegotiate these clauses is in itself a big positive, as one tight spot has been identified.

Return of unutilised land: It has often been seen that when land was acquired for a stated purpose and the land-losers were promised employment opportunities and overall development of the region in question, the project failed to take off for several years. This lacuna has been identified, and the timeframe for return of unutilised land has been proposed to be reduced to 5 years from the previous 10 years. This is a strong deterrent for companies or developers who plan to acquire land without having a clear roadmap for its usage.

Clarity on end-usage: There is a need to clearly identify the purpose of land acquisition so that intervention by the government can be put to right use. For instance, critical projects involving infrastructure and affordable housing require faster clearances and may necessitate timely intervention.

Expertise of State governments in deciding area threshold: The amended Land Acquisition Act was to cover all private land acquisitions if the minimum area to be acquired was 100 acres in rural areas and 40 acres in urban areas. However, every city and village has different dynamics, and these are best understood by the State government rather than the Centre. Thus, the Act must consider giving States an upper hand in deciding the coverage reveals pragmatism and flexibility.

Smart Cities beyond PPP: In order to meet the target of an annual outlay of INR 35,000 crores for development of 100 new smart cities, it was obvious that private funding was critical. The government has invited full private funding of projects, with government contribution largely limited to viability gap support.

Real Estate Regulatory Bill (RERA)

The still-pending Real Estate Regulatory Bill has been hotly contested at every stage, and its approval has been deferred once again only recently. There is no doubt that it must be enacted sooner rather than later so that the Indian real estate market becomes attractive for foreign investors. However, no version of this Bill that has evolved from the various objections and arguments from the industry’s stakeholders has been universally acceptable so far. It will require a strong and determined government to push it through.

Three recent revisions to the RERA could conceivably lead to its unilateral acceptance and consequent ratification in 2015:

Reduction of minimum balance to be maintained in the escrow account of a project has been reduced from 70% to 50%: This amount was from the monies collected from the buyers. This will effectively allow developers to continue their practice of diverting funds collected for a project towards land acquisition or other projects, and will work in their favour by also allowing them to grow their land and/or project portfolio. The 50% mandate will still place enough restriction on developers to divert funds elsewhere and ensure better completion records. (However, for buyers, the concerns regarding funds diversion would be higher, and the Bill would be slightly less protectionist towards buyers.)

Coverage expanded to the commercial real estate sector: While the previous version of the bill envisaged coverage of only residential sector, the new government wants commercial real estate to also fall under the ambit of the regulatory authority and its clauses. The limited coverage was largely without any purpose and, therefore, it currently stands rectified. Commercial projects under the purview of the bill would provide protection to investors of commercial assets, as well.

All projects which have not received their completion certificates will also be now covered under the bill and hence this allows larger umbrella coverage for buyers and investors.

Worryingly, while the RERA initially aimed at providing an alternate redressal mechanism, the new provisions are talking of no recourse to other consumer forums. This can lead to pressure on this regulatory body in terms of increases log of cases, though it will reduce instances of multiplicity of suits.

In any case, the recommendations have been made by the ministry and sent to PMO for approval before the cabinet approves it. Thereafter, it will be tabled in the Parliament for passing the bill and making it an act. It is unclear whether the Real Estate Regulatory Authority will finally be ratified as a law in 2015, but the fact that hard discussions are happening is definitely positive, and indicative of the new government’s determination to make it a reality.



Building 'green' India for sustainable development

The real estate sector in India is one of the largest drivers of the country’s economic growth. the sector also provides large-scale employment and contributes massively to the country’s GDP.  While realty is vigorously driving growth, it is also true that it is adversely affecting the environment.

The question arises, how do we curtail this impact on the environment?  The answer is, by a more determined adoption of the concept of sustainable development, says Anuj Puri, Chairman & Country Head, JLL India. He further adds, “Sustainable development is all about limiting the destruction of natural resources and consumption of its gifts, and ensuring that we keep the planet green and alive.”

India is by no means lagging behind on the sustainable development front. The fact that the number of certified green buildings in India has surged over the last four to five years is a direct indication to the growing popularity of the ‘sustainability’ concept. However, we have a lot of catching up with more developed countries to do.

CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre
While there is a more than decent saturation of space committed for ‘green’ certification in India today, it is nowhere close to being enough if we consider the space under development and the number of existing buildings. The growing population and its rising aspirations for better living and working conditions have increased the demand for sustainable projects in India., Puri says.

How does this scenario look for developers?  There is no denying that this is a very challenging environment for developers with committed funds for development of projects. They need to be able to find occupiers or buyers in order to recover the cost of capital and the investment. This means that the growth story of sustainable real estate in India depends on consumers proffering demand for as much as on developers generating supply of green buildings.


In India, IGBC has licensed the LEED Green Building Standard from the U.S. Green Building Council, which is responsible for certifying LEED buildings in India. There are other rating systems that are more localized; the most significant among them is the TERI GRIHA. So, there is no lack of routes for ‘green’ certifications for developers in India. However, there is still a serious lack of State-level incentives for developers and occupiers of certified buildings.

There is a huge market potential for green buildings in India. A large number of corporate firms are now establishing and stating sustainability commitments. Commercial development in the top tier I cities has shown a significant increase in projects committed to Green certification. However, there is still a visible lack of ‘green’ penetration in tier II cities, and the residential sector has by no means risen resoundingly to the occasion as yet. This is significant, because the biggest share of real estate development and absorption in India is vested in the residential sector.


“The way I see I, there has to be a much clearer benefit statement for consumers of green real estate in the country for this scenario to change for the better. Buildings account for up to 40% of the total energy consumption in India, and commercial and residential real estate combined will account for more than 2000 TWH of energy consumption by 2030 (more than double of the figure in 2012). Of this, more than 60% will be consumed by residential. Therefore, stakeholders of the residential real estate sector in India definitely need greater encouragement to go green,” Anuj Puri says.

Sadly, the reality is that most home buyers in India are still quite averse to paying an extra premium for a green residential project. Obviously, developers will not fall over themselves to cater to a segment wherein demand is lacking. There is therefore a distinct need for a combination of incentives and stipulates to boost the development and consumption of sustainable real estate development in India.

Greater awareness is a key factor in increasing demand for green real estate, and the impetus for this awareness has to hinge on two aspects and drivers – the first of course being cost. Home buyers need to be convinced that their total ownership cost, including maintenance, over the life cycle of the property will actually imply significant savings. The second aspect is equally important – developers and consumers of green real estate must become more sensitized to their contribution to sustainable living over the long term; of creating a better world for future generations.

States should become more serious about subsidizing development of green spaces so that developers can keep their development cost at par with non-green spaces. This will ensure that these developers will not have to levy an extra premium on the buyers. When sales of a project are positively impacted by Green certification, developers will have a clear rationale to adopt the sustainable development route.


Also, bodies like the IGBC and the TERI should take a cue from the consumer product market and bring out a more ‘palatable’ version of the benefits of green homes. For example, if we consider energy star-rated products in the consumer segment, a 5 star rating for an air conditioner becomes an attractive proposition for buyers because they know exactly how they benefit from it. Sustainable homes with a ‘star’ rating by bodies such as IGBC or TERI should attract buyers for similar reasons.
Already, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency has a star rating system for the energy efficiency of buildings. The purview of this system should be extended through state sponsorship to cover a more ‘holistic’ sustainability index.

The Road Ahead…

As a country, India has an energy deficit of around 12%, and this is only set to increase once electrification of the country’s geography is enhanced over the subsequent two five year plans. As per statistics published by the IGBC, the total square foot area committed to Green certification in India stands at over 1.5 billion sq. ft. This encompasses projects at all stages of certification; registered, pre-certified and certified.

This is a highly encouraging statistic, but there is a lot more that needs to be done. The key to making ownership of green spaces more attractive to home owners is to increase awareness. The residential real estate sector is the biggest focus area in this regard, and this is the segment wherein the concept of ‘going green’ must be transformed from a campaign covering a limited few into a determined mass movement.


Anuj Puri, Chairman & Country Head of JLL India, which is a leading real estate research firm.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

JLL invests Rs 20 crore in residential project near Chennai

JLL India’s Segregated Funds Group announces Second Investment through its Residential Opportunities Fund (ROF-I)

New Delhi: The Segregated Funds Group of Jones Lang LaSalle India, a leading real estate research firm, has invested INR 20 Crore with Chennai-based builder Plaza Group to develop a residential project. 

The investment has been carried out through 'Residential Opportunities Fund –I,' which has been registered with SEBI as AIF category II.

The investment, made for a residential project, is coming up in suburb Kovilambakkam near OMR, on Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam 200 feet road, near Chennai. 

Plaza group, a renowned brand in Chennai city and especially in the South suburbs micro-market, has delivered eight projects (with BUA of 2 million sq. ft.) in last 10 years. The group has four ongoing projects (with BUA of 1.5 million sq. ft.), which will be complete in the next three years.

Commenting on the deal closure, Mridul Upreti, CEO, Segregated Funds Group, said, “We are happy to partner with Plaza Group. We see value in mid income housing projects in prominent micro markets within Chennai, and Plaza group has created a niche in this space. This deal also furthers our existing footprint in south India.”  

T. Shyam Prasad, Chairman and Managing Director, Plaza Group, said, “We are delighted to partner with JLL Segregated Funds Group. The deal furthers our relationship with JLL.”

Monday, December 15, 2014

Lodha sells US $ 78 mn worth homes at world's tallest tower in 9 days

MUMBAI: World One, the world's tallest residential tower under construction being developed by leading real estate giant Lodha Group, has registered bookings to the tune of over US $ 78 mn in the metropolis, three years after it has reopened for booking on November 29.

The iconic World One is part of the ultra-luxurious development, the World Towers by Lodha Group. It is Asia's first project to have interior design by Armani/CASA and is located in the island city's 'Golden Mile', a mile-long stretch of premium residences, offices and entertainment centers in south-central Mumbai.


Bookings to this 117 storey tower closed on December 14. Nearly 75 per cent of the civil construction has been initiated. The project is expected to be completed in 2016.

"World One has reopened sales for a limited window and we have received record bookings within few days. This reflects on customer's appetite and desire for buying high-end, high quality developments," said Abhishek Lodha, Managing Director, Lodha Group.   

Currently 3 and 4 BHK apartments are being developed and are being priced approximately at Rs 70,000 per sq ft on carpet area for apartments sized 2,500-3,500 sq ft. This takes the ticket size of the apartments to a whopping Rs 18 crore-Rs 25 crore.

The project located in central Mumbai, close to the upmarket Worli, was initially launched in late 2010, however, after almost a year of sales, the bookings were stopped in end 2011.

The project will be 423 metres, or 1,400 ft, in height — almost 4.5 times the height of the Statue of Liberty in the US.

Besides World One, Lodha Group is developing two other towers - World View and World Crest - on the land parcel spread over 17 acres.

The World Towers will house luxurious World Residences, World Villas and select World Mansions offering an exclusive lifestyle experience to meet the demands of the cities affluent, eminent personalities and the crème de la crème of India Inc.

The project, though back again after a gap, had faced its set of challenges. The height of the project had raised concerns that the tower may hinder the aircraft movement from the Mumbai International Airport as the project is in the centre of the city. In 2011, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had also conducted a study to understand if there were any risks to the movement of flights in and out of Mumbai.

Lodha on Tuesday said, “All the necessary clearances, including civil aviation permissions, are in place for the entire project. It will be a 117 storeyed project as envisaged.” He added that 74 floors in the project are completed and the construction is currently on for the 75th floor.

Some of the other features of the World One include having India’s fastest elevators travelling at 8 metres per second, first project in South Asia to have Armani/Casa design its interiors and first project in India to be constructed with latest construction technology called Jump-form shuttering system.

The entire project called World Towers will have three towers — World One, World Crest and World View.


According to real estate experts, the demand for luxury residences continues in India. Om Ahuja, CEO (residential services), JLL India, “Demand continues to be robust for options in bonafide premium locations of the key Indian cities, but newly tailored luxury addresses are also seeing their share of action as long as the projects on offer meet certain parameters.”

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Tata Housing sells 10,000 homes at Google's online shopping event

Tapping the burgeoning online property market, Tata Housing has got bookings for 10,000 homes on the opening day of the Google's two-day online shopping festival which began on Thursday.


Earlier, before the start of the event, the company disclosed its intention to put one of its luxury residential projects, being developed in Bangalore at a cost of Rs 150 crore, exclusively for online customers. 

The company will construct 75 independent homes and row housing in 5-acre project in Bangalore. The price of each home starts from Rs 3.5 crore, the company said.

Tata Housing said in a statement earlier that it would "participate in the Google's Great Online Shopping Festival (GOSF), being held from 10-12 December, by launching an exclusive ultra-luxury project - The Cascades".

Besides this project, the company has also listed housing units of seven other projects across India through online mode. It has offered schemes and instant appreciation of prices in these projects.


Consumers can buy homes by paying a booking amount of Rs 50,000 for all projects and they would get an instant appreciation of up to 15 per cent, Tata Housing said.

"We received a phenomenal response through our pioneering initiative of online sales of real estate through partnership with google last year," said Brotin Banerjee, managing director and CEO of Tata Housing, the real estate arm of Tata Group.

Stating that online home buying is an emerging platform, he said the company is offering properties ranging from affordable to ultra-luxury segment.

In a separate statement, Tata Housing subsidiary Tata Value Homes said it would sell apartments in Boisar near Mumbai exclusively during this festival at a starting price of Rs 16 lakh. Interested customers can express their interest to book by paying Rs 20,000 online, it said.

Tata Value Homes would also offer special one-day price for apartments in its other projects across Ahmedabad, Pune, Chennai and Bengaluru starting Rs 32 lakh. 

Exceed expectation: Google

Reacting to the overwhelming response to its online property fest, Internet giant Google said the ongoing Great Online Shopping Festival (GOSF) has "exceeded wildest expectations", with Tata group's realty arm having bagged 10000 booking in a single day. 

Google India Managing Director Rajan Anandan said in spite of high traffic, the user experience was seamless and the sites were not going down.

Sheth Creators launches mega residential project in Andheri East

Mumbai: Sheth Creators has recently launched ultra-luxurious residential project “Vasant Oasis” at Mumbai’s Andheri East.  

The project will have a mammoth 19 towers of 22 storeys each spread over 18 acres of land with five acres of land being kept for recreational purposes. The project has well developed physical and social infrastructure in its vicinity.

Vasant Oasis
Vasant Oasis
Located in the heart of Andheri East, corporate houses, booming infrastructure development, popular eateries and connectivity offer new age cosmopolitan living for the residents of Vasant Oasis.

Once the busy industrial location, Andheri East has come a long way to become one of the prime real estate destinations in the commercial capital of India. Andheri East, which is strategically placed, has managed to maintain its momentum despite the present downturn the property market is encountering.

Vasant Oasis has location advantage due to its proximity to CBD, international airport and upcoming Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar metro project. The Metro rail is the major development and will substantially reduce the travel time to the west making this micro-market a more attractive residential destination, a company statement said.

Andheri East scores because most of this area is logistically well connected to the Western Express Highway, which provides easy and fast access to commercial hubs like Bandra Worli Sea Link, BKC, Lower Parel and the Eastern suburbs of Vikhroli, Powai, and Mulund.

Vasant Oasis provides modern amenities and number of exceptional facilities like convenient store, well equipped polyclinic, creche / day care, schools and hospitals.
The project encompasses 1, 2, 2.5 3 & 4 BHK apartments conceptualized by HB Design Pte Ltd, Singapore & DSP Design Associates Pvt Ltd, Pune.

The key highlights of the project are a plethora of amenities designed to exuberate and help amass the feel of complete and refined living.

According to Hiral Sheth, Business Development Team, Sheth Creators, “Our endeavor is to enhance and bestow better living to our consumers by offering world class services. Andheri East is the fastest developing suburbs, preferred destination and known for housing top notch corporate, 5 star hotels, colossal IT parks and educational institutions. Its landscape is now adorned with a number of high-rises and housing complexes. With the completion of this project, we believe Andheri East will get its one-of-its-kind residential township which will spell true luxury blended with opulence and comfort for connoisseurs of fine living.”

About Sheth Creators

Sheth Creators is the leading real estate company catering to the luxury and ultra-luxury segment. In its 26 years of existence, the company has developed a record 20 million square feet residential, commercial, retail and township projects in India and abroad and built over 18,000 homes. It has a track record in the real estate industry of developing innovative projects through its emphasis on contemporary architecture, strong project execution, quality construction and professionally managed team. Apart from winning 32 international awards, Sheth Creators has won ‘American Concrete Institute’ (ACI) and ‘LEED ’certifications.