MUMBAI FLAT AUCTIONED AT A RECORD PRICE- RS.1.25 LACS FOR A SQ.FT!

India Shining!, remember the Slogan used by BJP during its past government?, here is a BJP person who has Proved this Literally. Cinestar and BJP MP Vinod Khanna has bought a residential apartment at Malabar Hill, in the tony South Mumbai area, from Citibank for Rs 1.25 lakh a sq ft. Khanna has paid Rs 31.25 crore for the 2,500 sq ft flat. The sale price was four times higher than the reserve price of Rs 32,000 per sq ft.

In a similar transaction nearly six months back, a London-based NRI acquired a 3475 sq ft property in NCPA apartments at Nariman Point for Rs 97,842 per sq ft.

Real estate industry experts said the price at which a property was sold cannot be viewed as a benchmark in South Mumbai as the area has a limited supply of real estate. "Buyers are keen on South Mumbai properties due to the status attached to it. Properties in the area will always sell at a premium," said Sanjay Dutt, deputy managing director, Cushman & Wakefield.

Citibank put the flat on sale a fortnight ago and property consultancy CB Richard Ellis was given the mandate to sell it.

While Vinod Khanna could not be contacted for comments, a Citi spokesperson said: "As common with many other multinational organisations, we periodically review our surplus residential estate portfolio in relation to employee requirements as the preference is towards a flexible remuneration policy."

The deal also marks the trend of foreign banks such as American Express, Deutsche Bank and HSBC selling their residential properties in Mumbai. The most prominent among them was high profile stock broker Rakesh Jhunjhunwala buying an apartment from American Express Bank in Mumbai's Malabar Hill for about Rs 25 crore.

Amidst the ongoing property sale by banks, Cushman's Dutt believes that the banks were taking a right step as the property prices were not sustainable in South Mumbai where prices have doubled over the last two to three years.

DLF, NITESH, HDFC VIE FOR BEACON HOUSE

DLF, Nitesh Estates and HDFC Realty are amongst the bidders reportedly in the fray to acquire NRI tycoon C Sivasankaran’s Beacon House, located off the upmarket Cenotaph Road in the heart of Chennai. The 3-acre property, a former residence of UB Chairman Vijay Mallya when he controlled Best & Crompton (B&C), may fetch as high as Rs 225250 crore, sources said.

Mr Sivasankaran has mandated CB Richard Ellis to sell the property through an auction, with five bidders indicating early interest. While multiple sources confirmed interests from DLF, Nitesh Estates and HDFC Realty, unconfirmed reports indicated that local developer Arihant and Bangalore-based Sobha Developers are also in the fray.

Mr Sivasankaran had acquired the property in early 2006 for Rs 100-110 crore, sources said.The bidders, like DLF and Nitesh, may be eyeing the property for premium residential units, which, going by the current FSI of 1.5, could see 4 lakh sq ft of fresh development. The area has houses of leading industrialists, including Murugappa Group family members, and Japanese Consulate. Recently, DMK leader and son of chief minister MK Karunanidhi, MK Stalin, has moved there.

It is believed that a leading local developer True Value Homes may sit down with HDFC Realty for joint development, if the latter shows up with the winning bid. Earlier, True Value Homes had attempted to join with Mr Sivasankaran for developing premium residential apartments on the land.

Several local real estate sources said, in view soft market conditions, the maximum price it can fetch is Rs 3.25 crore per ground (56 grounds in 3 acre). Recalling the objections raised in the past over building multi-story buildings in the posh area, the realty sources added that it is not easy to take up development unless the bidder is familiar with the local conditions.

However, the national players, which may view Chennai as a more sable market in terms of real estate prices, may put in an aggressive bid that could take the auction price t Rs 225/250 in the highest band. A few months back, Bangalore-based Nitesh Estates made a winning Rs 640-crore bid for a nine-acre plot on Chamiers Road, which is in close to Beacon House.

Nitesh is in the midst of developing a one million sq ft mixed use development including luxury hotel, retail, commercial space and serviced apartments.

Beacon House came to the fold of UB chairman Vijay Mallya after he acquired B&C. Later, when the company was acquired by Indonesia’s Polysindo, it decided to sell the property making use o the scrapping of urban land ceiling act. Since Mr Sivasankaran had picked up stake in B&C, it helped him to clinch the deal.

ETA STAR TO INVEST RS.1,500 CRORES IN MUMBAI

Chennai-based real estate developer ETA Star Property Developers, a part of $4 billion ETA Ascon group based in the UAE, will build a Rs 1,500 crore mall in Mumbai's Juhu area. The construction work will begin in January 2008. ETA has formed a 50:50 joint venture with Supra Estates, to develop the 10 acre plot (450,000 sq ft) into a shopping mall and service apartments. The companies have paid Rs 800-900 crore for the said plot of land. The mall will be given on a seven-year lease upon completion of the project in 2010. ETA has brought Rs 200-250 crore as equity contribution for the project in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) and will raise the balance through banks and other financial institution. ETA has also forged a joint venture with Wavy Construction for a project based in the hill station of Khandala, Maharashtra. The project involves building luxury villas, health spas, hotels and furnished apartments. Even as the structure of the joint venture is yet to be finalised, both companies will inject Rs 400 crore for the project spread across 28 acres. A US consultancy firm, Tony Asahi, has been appointed to provide a detailed study of the area, which would help draft the final outlook of the project. ETA is currently executing a Rs 13,500 crore integrated township project at Sriperumbudur near Chennai. The project, spread over a land area of 1,200 acres, will be finished in seven years. ETA Star has created a separate special purpose vehicle for the project in which it would hold 59.9 per cent, a foreign partner 40 per cent with Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation holding the rest. ETA Star is talking to a few companies in the US and Europe for the project. The company is involved in real estate ventures mainly in the southern region of the country with projects spread across Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The company is executing a residential project in Chennai, where it is developing apartments under the name of Jasmine Court. The project follows two other projects 'Binny Crescent' and 'The Gardens', both residential projects in Bangalore.

TOP BIDS WORTH RS 2,790 CRORE FOR BKC PLOT IN MUMBAI

Mukesh Ambani promoted Reliance Industries Limited, Wadhwa Builders, TCG Infrastructure and Hiranandani Constructions have emerged as the leading bidders for the three Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) plots in Mumbai measuring 75,350 square metres. The total value of the top bids is Rs 2,790 crore.

Milind Mhaiskar, joint metropolitan commissioner and project director (Mumbai), MUTP, told The Indian Express: “The highest bid per square metre this time is somewhere over Rs 5 lakh, which is easily three times our base price of Rs 1.56 lakh, the amount which was the per square metre bid by Reliance last year when they bagged the convention centre.

In that sense, we are happy with the bids as it reflects a steep upward trend in prices.” According to Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) Commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad, MMRDA would lease out its properties for 80 years for the development, operation and maintenance of the commercial complex and car park. “Plots C-70, C-54 and C- 55 (the latter two have been offered as one plot) have been ear marked for commercial and office use while plot C-66 has been reserved for a multi-storeyed car parking for a minimum of 500 cars along with a commercial complex,” he said.

“This is just the first phase of the bidding process and each bid needs to be analysed before they are awarded. These bids will now go to the executive committee after whose approval it will be announced,” Gaikwad said. “Our target is to raise Rs 2,60,000 crore for the development of the entire MMR region based on our draft plan. The bulk of this will be towards all the mass transit projects that have been earmarked as priority, which will partly come from such bids. MMRDA has another 50 acres of area in such plots.”

MMRDA officials said Reliance Industries emerged as a leading bidder for the C-66 Plot (30,550 sq m) with Rs 918 crore at the rate of Rs 3,00,501 per sq m. The second runner-up is RR Mega City, which had quoted Rs 2,13,093.28 per sq m, and the first runner-up is Business Park Town Planners Limited (BPTP) at Rs 2,48,348 per sq m.

For plot C-70 measuring 16,500 sq m, Wadhwa Group has quoted Rs 5,04,000 per sq m for the total at Rs 831 crore. JSW Property Group is the runner-up by quoting Rs 4,50,000 per sq m. Third bidder is Suzuki Powertrain India Limited (SPIL), who have quoted Rs 4,03,000 per sq m.

For plots C-54-55 with an area of 28,300 sq m, a joint venture between TCG Infrastructure and Hiranandani Constructions quoted a bid of Rs 3,67,992 per sq m totalling Rs 1,041 crore. The second bidder for this plot is SPIL at Rs 3,57,000 per sq m and JSW Property Group at Rs 3.33 lakh per sqm.

PENINSULA BUYS PROPERTY IN HYDERABAD FOR RS 90 CR

The Ashok Piramal group's real estate arm, Peninsula Land (PLL), has purchased Rallis India's 31 acres of land at Patancheru near Hyderabad for Rs 90 crore. The acquisition, made through PLL subsidiary RR Mega Property Developers, marks the Mumbai-based developer's entry into the southern markets.

"Western and southern India are our focused markets now. We are scouting for more land in cities like Bangalore and Chennai," said Rajeev Piramal, executive vice chairman and managing director, Peninsula Land.

The land sale is subject to fulfilment of certain conditions, including the satisfactory completion of due diligence by RR Mega Property Developers with respect to the title of the property.

Rallis India, a Tata group firm manufacturing agricultural products like pesticides and fertilisers, has put around 150 acres of land in Hyderabad on the block. Out of this, Godrej Properties had purchased 30 acres of land earlier.

Besides buying the 30 acres, PLL has signed a right of first refusal (RoFR) agreement with Rallis for the remaining 90 acres. The Hyderabad buy is Peninsula's ninth deal in the past one year. It has concluded three land deals in Pune and another three in Goa. PLL has also made two land acquisitions in Nashik and one in Nagpur. The company has over 36 million sq ft under development.

While working on three major residential-***-commercial projects in Mumbai, the company has broadened its portfolio by entering more specialised projects like SEZs and IT and biotech parks. Recently, PLL had acquired a 72.6% stake in Dawn Mills for over Rs 600 crore and merged the company with itself.

COGNIZANT TO INVEST $100 MN MORE IN INDIA

CHENNAI: Cognizant Technology Solutions said it will invest an additional $100 million in India, taking its total investment in the country to $300 million over the next two years.

The IT and BPO major said the additional investment will be used to expand its new Chennai campus — located in a special economic zone — which will double in size with an area of over 2 million sqft.

Cognizant is increasing the size of the first phase of planned construction of its SEZ facility in Coimbatore to over 7,25,000 sqft. It also plans to acquire additional property in Hyderabad and Chennai.

Chief financial and operating officer Gordon Coburn said: “We expect this investment to enhance our flexibility to meet the escalating demand for our services from both new and existing customers around the world.”

In November 2006, Cognizant announced it has planned to spend more than $200 million on land, building and other facilities for upcoming techno-complexes. The move, it said, would increase its existing campus area in India by more than 3 million sqft with a capacity to accommodate over 30,000 new employees.

Of the 46,000 professionals globally, over 35,000 are in India, spread across its eight locations in Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Coimbatore and Kochi.

UNITECH ANNOUCES LUXURY RESIDENTIAL PROJECT - UNITECH GRANDE IN NOIDA

New Delhi, India, July 07, 2007 - Indian real estate major Unitech Ltd has announced the launch of a premium residential project, Unitech Grande, in Noida. Unitech Grande is a premium lifestyle destination offering super luxury apartments in sylvan surroundings across 347 acres of prime land.

Unitech Grande is located on the premium Noida Expressway, less than 2.5 kms from the Amity Chowk on the Expressway, thereby enjoying good connectivity and locational advantage with respect to the city master plan. It offers a tranquil environment in the NCR affording a varied selection of upscale typologies overlooking a golf course. Conceived to be the most sought after address in South Asia, this township offers the best living, shopping, working and hospitality facilities within a ten-minute drive along with superior accessibility to the nations capital.

The heart of this creation is a signature Golf Course exclusively designed by none other than Greg Norman himself. Apartment size ranges from 2,200 sq ft to 5,500 sq ft. The apartments are housed in soaring masterpieces of skyscraping architecture, created by some of the most celebrated architects and planners of the world. Luxury has acquired a new meaning here with all apartments having dedicated high speed internet connections, a fridge, washing machine and dryer (in addition to the usual modular kitchen), his and hers basin in the master bath and more. Selected apartments have terrace gardens and personal plunge pools.

A grand skyline with 8 iconic towers, varying in height, some as high as 45 storeys, has been stamped with the individual brilliance of the world’s top celebrated architects and planners. Grande offers super luxury apartments, all having an exquisite view of the Signature Golf Course. A few apartments also offer a 180-degree view of the same.

Sky bridges are to link most of Grande’s towers, each bridge exquisitely landscaped to give India the very first ‘sky gardens’.

Theme gardens are the focal point of each cluster of Grande, resplendent with exotic flowers, trees, waterfalls, pristine meadows, swimming pools and water bodies. Grande has been designed with all the attributes of environment planning dictated by international standards, including waste management, recycling resources and achieving energy friendly environment. Sun shading screens, eco-rated air conditioning units, state of the art purification systems for drinking water, rainwater harvesting and green roofs are some of the features that make it a truly sustainable and intelligent township.

The complex is also expected to house schools, hospitals and shopping outlets.

Unitech had acquired the land for this project in May 2006 for $420 million. Construction cost is expected to be many times this amount. A total of 5,300 units are to be built over seven years. 670 units are to be completed in the first phase of which 25% are already sold according to the developer.