Kotak Realty Funds Group, with financing through its KIREF real estate fund, has opened its new Green Boulevard facility, a 700,000-sf IT office building here. The property is in Sector 62, a technology hub in the Noida business park here. The building, designed for companies looking for outsourcing space, includes tenants such as Sapient and Accenture.
The office development includes three main towers: towers A (eight floors), B (seven floors) and C (five floors). The project includes almost 1,000 parking spaces, mostly in covered areas, as well as a retail portion that will include a coffee bar, business center, cyber café, food court and other stores.
The fund has assets under management of $104 million raised from domestic institutions and HNI clients, according to a company statement. Officials from the firm, a subsidiary of Kotak Mahindra Bank, did not return requests for comment on this story.
The 3C Group is the developer of the new building. According to the Kotak statement, 3C has applied for LEED Gold certification for the property. We have been able to provide an environmentally friendly, as well as low-operating-cost, facility to global occupiers, said Vidur Bharadwaj, director of the project for 3C Group, in the statement. Architect Bharadwaj, who heads the firm Design & Development, reportedly pledged two years ago to only work on green buildings.
Source : globest.com
Noida village seethes at land price gulf
The Rawal family in a Greater Noida village got Rs 1.9 crore from the government two years ago for their 59,440 square metres of land.
If they could sell the plot at current market prices today, directly to the companies building townships in the area, the Rawals could have been richer by up to Rs 119 crore.
Anger at the huge mismatch simmered inside Gopak Rawal and many other land-sellers from 10 local villages till it erupted into yesterdays protests when police firing killed at least three of them, including Gopak.
The farmers knew they could no longer benefit from the steepling market rates, but were demanding an increased compensation that the Uttar Pradesh government had announced in April last year.
More : telegraphindia.com
JD(U) blames BSP for Greater Noida firing
The Janata Dal (United) on Thursday blamed BSP supremo Mayawati for the death of farmers in police firing in Greater Noida yesterday and demanded immediate end to further expansion work in the area.
The land in and around Delhi is national property and it is sad that it is being given to capitalists in such a manner. Those doing politics for money are getting into real estate with the result that no land is now free on the national highways connecting Delhi with major cities nearby, JD(U) president Sharad Yadav said.
Demanding immediate end to work on Ganga Expressway and the Taj Corridor projects, Yadav who was the food minister in the previous NDA Government at the Centre, said, The fertile land of farmers is being used for these purposes. Such things can lead to a food crisis in the country.
More : zeenews.com
LJP move to free land acquired by Mayawati
The Lok Janshakti Party will launch a free land movement on Wednesday at Badalpur village in Uttar Pradesh, where Chief Minister Mayawati has acquired land reportedly for construction of a helipad and other structures.
LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan told reporters today that his party workers will go for the Bhoomi Mukti Andolan from the national capital in large numbers to the village and free the land grabbed by Mayawati.
Dalit Sena national president Ramchandra Paswan and other senior leaders of the party will go to the village on August 13 and begin the movement. Moreover, all the district units of the party have been directed to court arrests and prepare public opinion against the act, Paswan said.
More : zeenews.com
What happens to acquired land in Greater Noida? Authority has little to say
The farmers of Greater Noidas Bisrakh village have received fresh ammunition in their movement against the Greater Noida Authoritys decision to acquire their ancestral land.
The new lead has come from the Right To Information Act: an application has revealed that the planners do not know of what is to come up on the farmers land.
Applicant Rampal Bhati, a resident of Bisrakh, had filed the RTI on April 16, asking the Authority about its plans for his land which it had wanted to acquire. The Authority has notified the land as illegal without knowing that this is our ancestral land. My father is literate and he used the RTI Act. We tilled our fields and this is all we had, said Karan Singh Bhati, his son.
More : expressindia.com
Taj Group to launch Taj Premium brand
According to ET, the Taj Group of Hotels plans to introduce a new hotel brand, Taj Premium, in place of its Taj Residency brand, which will be phased out. The first property under the new brand may launch by end August 2008. The brand will target upscale business clientele. Only those Taj Residency properties that are performing well will be rebranded as Taj Premium properties. Facilities such as Wi-Fi and business centres will be available.
The group also plans to fortify its four star mid-market brand, Taj Gateway; the Taj Residency properties that are not performing adequately will be brought under its umbrella and brand alignment will be carried out. In 2009, the group plans to increase its portfolio with 16 properties or 2100 rooms. By 2010, the group aims to launch properties in Noida, Bharatpur and internationally, Phuket, Thailand and Cape Town.
Source : hospitalitybizindia.com
Present downturn in real estate a temporary blip
The persistence of inflationary pressure in the market will further affect the recovery in the real estate sector. As the government measures to improve supplies of essential commodities , so far, have had limited impact on controlling prices, RBI is likely to further take harsh measures to push the interest rates up on July 29 when it review its credit policy.
Because of the central banks monetary measures taken so far to contain inflation, the interest rates on home loan have gone up by 2 percentage points - to over 12% in the last one year. Prior to this, the central bank, in order to contain the rise in the prices of real estate, had curtailed the flow of money to the sector. This has resulted in the rise in interest rates by over three percentage points between 2005 and 2007.
In fact, in the last three years, interest rates on home loan have increased by around 5 percentage points from around 7% in 2005 to over 12% at present. This has led to increase in the equated monthly installment (EMI) on a 20-year loan by a whopping 42%. That means, EMI on Rs one lakh loan for 20-year , increased by Rs 326 - from Rs 775 to Rs 1,101. And on a loan of Rs 50 lakh, EMI has increased by as much as Rs 16,290!
More : economictimes.indiatimes.com
Banking on leisure
Its a quiet Sunday afternoon. In the tastefully appointed conference room of Country Clubs Zen Garden in Chennai, Y. Rajeev Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director of the Hyderabad-headquartered Country Club India Ltd, is scrolling dow n a list of names on the small laptop screen. In the last few months, he has been busy zipping between cities in India and abroad either to launch a new property or negotiating to buy out one. Hes just back from Dubai, after completing some legal formalities involving the companys recently acquired 100-room property, Chelsea Hotel, there.
The conversation begins over a glass of apple juice. Its actually my long-held ambition to own a property in Dubai, he says. Country Club acquired the property recently for Rs 175 crore. The plan for it is to make it the companys global headquarters to garner international members who will be induced to come here and make use of its facilities. It will give us a shot in the arm, he says. Chelsea is the second property of Country Club abroad. It has one at Kandy in Sri Lanka.
Country Club India Ltd, the Rs 300-crore BSE-listed leisure infrastructure company, came up with the idea of creating a chain of family clubs when most clubs in India were not open for membership. Besides, clubs here are stand-alones or are run by Government institutions such as the Railways. Acquiring a membership at these clubs is either very expensive (if they are at all open for membership), or is restricted to localities or employees of those institutions. There are not many club chains except a few such as Club Mahindra, owned by Mahindra & Mahindra, which focuses mostly on the holiday segment with properties in tourist destinations alone.
More : thehindubusinessline.com
Ansal API to invest Rs.13000 crore on mega township near Greater Noida
Indias leading property developer Ansal Properties & Infrastructure Ltd (Ansal API) said it will invest Rs.13,000 crore ($3.25 billion) on a new township near Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh.
The integrated township called The Megapolis will be spread over 2500 acres of land at Dadri near Greater Noida and will be completed by 2015, P.N. Misra, executive director, Ansal API, said.
The detailed layout has been approved. Work will start within a month, Misra said, adding that in 3-4 years, returns on investment would flow in.
More : in.ibtimes.com
JPMorgan invests Rs 2.5 bn in BPTP
PMorgan Chase has invested Rs 2.5 billion in a closely-held property developer BPTP for an equity stake of 3%, reports Business Standard.
The deal values BPTP at Rs 83.33 billion. Citigroup Property Investments (CPI) holds 5.89% in the company, which it bought for Rs 3.22 billion last year.
Recently, BPTP bagged a Rs 50.06-billion land deal in Noida, outbidding well- known developers such as DLF, Omaxe and Ansal Housing & Construction.
The Noida deal and the companys plans to make it a business complex has increased the valuation of the company.
Source : myiris.com
MagicBricks.com’s Grand Success at the India Property Show, Kuwait
The India Property Show, Kuwait, a property fair by MagicBricks.com – Indias No. 1 Property Site, exclusively organised for NRIs & PIOs in the Kuwait held on 20-21 June 08 concluded successfully at the Sheraton Kuwait Hotel and Tower.
Over 500 projects were showcased by more than 12 of the major developers, builders, and real estate agents participating at the event.
The exhibition had something for every one of the thousands of visitors –real estate projects both ready and under construction, residential and commercial properties were on offer all under one roof.
More : pr.com
Trent draws up investment plan for new hypermarkets
Trent, the retail arm of the Tata Group, has drawn up a Rs. 2,000-crore investment plan for setting up 50 hypermarkets, Star Bazaar, over the next five years, a top company official said.
We are launching 50 new hypermarket stores Star Bazaar in the next five years at an investment of around Rs. 2,000 crore, Trents Managing Director Noel Tata told reporters here on Friday.
Trent aims to expand to 100 stores across formats by 2009-10. Funds would be raised through internal accruals only, Mr. Tata said.
The company has launched its second Star Bazaar at Andheri in Mumbai on Friday. Spread across nearly 75,000 sq. ft. over two floors, Star Bazaar is a one-stop shop.
More : hindu.com
Ansal Properties’ arm gets investment of $ 55 million from HDFC AMC
HDFC Asset Management Co (HDFC AMC) has informed that it has made an investment worth US$ 55 million in Ansal Hi-Tech Townships, a subsidiary of the New Delhi-based property developer, Ansal Properties & Infrastructure (API), for a minority stake in the project.
Ansal Hi-Tech Townships, a special purpose vehicle (SPV), is building a 2,500- acre modern township with a developable area of 75 million sq ft in Greater Noida in the National Capital Region.
Presently, the project is in the land acquisition stage and is expected to be completed in the next 6-7 years. Ansal is expecting a turnover of Rs 26,000 crore from the project and expects to invest over Rs 12,000 crore in the project.
More : topnews.in
Kolkata stays hot amidst cooling realty prices
The real-estate market in Kolkata has been largely unaffected by the soaring inflation and the US economic crisis, developers and experts say. While the sales and price figures in other metros and cities have shown signs of cooling down, the prices in Kolkata have increased by 7-10 per cent over the last four months.
In their opinion, the city has managed to avoid a crisis because prices here had never reached unrealistic proportions. Kolkatas real-estate market is also relatively stabilisedsince the number of speculative investors here is much less compared with end-users.
The proportion of end-users vis-À-vis investors is 70:30, says Mr Sanjay Chowdhury, Regional Head, Emaar MGF. Prices in some other cities had to undergo a correction because they were inherently over-priced. Prices in Kolkata never appreciated so much and have always been realistic in nature, he says.
More : thehindubusinessline.com
Punjab Vigilance registers fresh case against Amarinder, son and Chahal
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Friday registered a dispropriation assets case against former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and his son Raninder Singh, under Sections 7, 8, 9, 13-1-D-E and 14 (13-2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Section 120-B of IPC.
Sources in the Vigilance Bureau, Patiala, told The Pioneer that case had also been registered against Capts former media advisor B.I.S. Chahal, Chetan Gupta and others.
It is lerant that the Vigilance Bureau had examined about 20 accounts of the former Chief Minister and found Rs 6 crore in them whereas his income from all sources, during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Punjab (2002 to 2007), was only Rs 1.6 crore.
More : punjabnewsline.com
Cong to launch stir in UP against ‘random’ land acquisition
The Congress will launch a statewide agitation in Uttar Pradesh to protest against what it calls the random acquisition of farmers land by the Mayawati government.
We will be launching a major agitation against land being acquired by the state government from farmers. In some cases the acquisition has been done randomly. In return for their land, farmers are being paid paltry sums as compensation, while the government is selling that land at exorbitant prices, state Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi said here on Monday.
She said the Mayawati government has acquired land from farmers for its ambitious Taj Expressway and Ganga Expressway projects and also for its various housing scheme projects.
More : economictimes.indiatimes.com
Unitech eyes more funds from Lehman
Close on the heels of announcing a $175 million (Rs 740 crore) deal with Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners for its Mumbai project, Unitech, the countrys second largest listed realty company, today said it is in talks with Lehman for raising funds for other commercial projects in the country.
The deals are set to be finalised in the next five to six months. Unitech is developing nearly 25 million sq ft of commercial space in cities including Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida and Kolkata and the company could dilute the stake in the specific projects, it said.
The company is also in talks with other private equity players to raise nearly Rs 1,260 crore to fund its mall and hotel projects across the country, according to company sources. It is setting up nearly 26 hotels in the next couple of years and 15 malls with an investment of Rs 20,000 crore.
More : business-standard.com
2,500 sq ft in Greater Noida, 1,000 sq ft in east Delhi
A budget of 50 Lacs may not seem so big in order to buy a residential accommodation in the heart of Delhi, but options would be available across the NCR and parts of Delhi, which are being developed for residential purposes. You would have to restrict yourself to 2-BHKs at some places whereas you could get 3-BHKs at other places. The apartments are available in a range of 850 sq ft to 2,000 sq ft.
Inside the city, you could look at Arjun Nagar, Hari Nagar, Pitam Pura, Rohini, and Tilak Nagar for a 3-BHK apartment with 1,200 to 1,250 sq ft. These are primarily ready-move-in apartments. If one is keen on buying in upcoming projects then Indrapuram, Noida, and Greater Noida are the best options, where 3-BHK houses are available from 1,400 to 2,000 sq ft.
Shahdara, Noida, Ghaziabad, and Gurgoan are the places one can look at for buying a 2-bedroom apartment ranging from 1,000 to 1,200 sq ft. East Delhi can also be an option for 2-bedroom houses, but the area available here would be less than 1,000 sq ft.
More : expressestates.in
Keeping a ceiling on home prices
Indias journey towards a home-owning democracy, and Padmakshi Financial Services continued recommendation to buy the dominant property financiers leads me to wonder if the Indian and US property markets are in different stages of the same journey.
While the US cycle is in a temporary downturn, if the Indian cycle is behind but revolving in the same direction, it has to be worth a status report.
For that, I delved into the recent Padmakshi Real Estate update.
More : thestandard.com.hk
Cash-strapped developers look to buyers to fund construction
Smaller developers of commercial property, who are strapped for cash in a market where it is becoming increasingly difficult to borrow, are turning to their buyers as a last resort to fund the construction of properties including malls and office spaces.
Developers such as the Vatika Group, Piyush Group and Amrapali Group based in New Delhi and its suburbs are offering fixed returns to people buying space in their upcoming office and retail projects near Delhi. The returnsvary from 9% to 12.25% ayear for up to nine years.
(FIXED RETURNS - A NEW TREND) While the scheme might look like an incentive to attract buyers in a sluggish real estate market, it is actually a way for developers to raise money for projects in a tight credit market.
More : livemint.com