Tag Archives: Hospitality/Recreation

Unitech comes up with Gardens Galleria in Noida.

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Unitech, one of the India’s leading integrated developers of large-scale real estate projects, has launched Gardens Galleria in Noida. It is part of Unitech’s existing 147 acres entertainment-cum-retail destination in Noida.
Gardens Galleria, designed by US-based firm Callihon, is spread over 8.36 acres, is strategically positioned adjacent to sector -18, Noida and Film City. It is minutes away from ITO, East Delhi, South Delhi, and Noida Expressway. The project is in the midst of established residential areas, offices, colleges and other commercial towers.

The destination already comprises of an international standard themed amusement park Worlds of Wonder and The Great India Place, a shopping mall. The mall, a combination of entertainment, retail and hospitality, in Noida will comprise of hyper market, departmental stores, international shops, spa, gymnasium, banks, ATMs, food and fun joints. The project comprises 230 retail outlets and there is also parking facility for 8,500 cars. Unitech has already got over 10 lakh patrons a month in its three operational malls the Metro Walk in New Delhi, Great India Place in Noida and Gurgaon Central.

Commenting on the launch, Munish Baldev, head-retail of Unitech said, “We are happy to launch Gardens Galleria in Noida. Unitech has already developed 1.3 million sq ft of mall area in New Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon since 2006, and is developing another 4 million sq ft of retail space in cities such as Kochi, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Lucknow, Mohali, Bhopal, Bhub­aneswar, and Dehradun. We have always been bullish about the retail development space and have been developing the shopping malls as per our business plan. We have been getting strong traction from retailers for leasing of the mall-space under development.”

Genesis Luxury, Genesis Lifest­yle, French Connection, Nautica, Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Calvin Klein are among some of the major brands who have their stores in Galleria. The company is also developing another 4 million sq ft of retail space in cities such as Kochi, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Bangalore, Dehradun, Mohali, Lucknow, and Gurgaon in the next 4-5 years.

Mirah to Grow Realty Business, Double Presence in Food and Beverages

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Mirah Group, a diversified business group with interests in food and beverage (F&B), hospitality, travel and international trading, is scaling up its real estate business and consolidating it under a single entity, said a top executive. The group, which runs popular restaurant chains and food stores including Rajdhani, Mad over Donuts and Manchester United Cafe and Bar, has completed around 10 real estate projects in the past decade. But it is only now that the group is organizing and branding the business under a new entity, Edifice Properties.

“We are looking to develop large mixed-development townships in Mumbai and Pune,” said Gaurav Goenka, managing director, Mirah Group. The first project is a 300-acre township in Nagpur, which has received funding in the form of foreign direct investment from a subsidiary of Bank of Scotland. The second will be a township in Pune, and the third, of 200-300 acres in Thane, is in the land acquisition stage.

In the F&B space, Mirah Group, known for expanding through acquisitions, is in talks to buy stakes in both domestic and international brands. “International brands are coming in by the dozen and we will look at picking up stakes in brands that are scalable and have a USP (unique selling proposition),” said Goenka.

The firm intends to invest around Rs.200 crore in this space in two-three years. It will expand Rajdhani, its flagship brand, from 35 outlets to 50 in a year and Mad Over Donuts to 100 from the current 35. Cafe Mangii, which is present only in Mumbai, will travel to Bangalore and Delhi and expand from five to 15 restaurants.

Mirah also runs a chain of hotels under the brand name, Citrus. From the current lot of seven hotels, it plans to open another seven that it will itself build, own and operate. Besides running its own F&B outlets, last year, Mirah Hospitality, a part of Mirah Group, invested Rs.40 crore and acquired a 26% stake in Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality Pvt. Ltd, which runs cafes and fine dining restaurants such as Mocha and Smoke House Deli.

Saloni Nangia, senior vice-president at retail consultancy Technopak Advisors Pvt. Ltd, said that with the fast pace of growth in the number of people across socio-economic strata eating out and ordering in, the F&B space in India will only grow from where it is today. “While a lot of modern retail will move online, F&B, still being an experience-related business, will continue to grow,” she said.

Retail consultants said the F&B sector will continue to draw the attention of investors such as private equity and venture capital funds. Jacob Kurian, a partner at Asia-focused private equity fund New Silk Route, said the fund is exploring opportunities in the sector. New Silk Route is in talks to buy a stake in Adiga’s, a south Indian restaurant chain.

 

Preferred Bidder for 42 Marriott Hotels in UK is an Indian investor.

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Indian property investor Blue Mountain Real Estate Advisors has been selected as the preferred bidder for 42 Marriott hotels throughout Britain after it offered almost 750 million pounds, a media report has said.

The holding company for the portfolio of hotels collapsed under the weight of about 900 million pounds of debt, most of it held by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

Blue Mountain Real Estate Advisors, a part of the Mumbai-based India Blue Mountain group, is understood to have been granted a period of exclusivity by RBS to put together funding for a deal, The Times said in a report.

The proposed sale to Blue Mountain comes as a surprise as, according to the report, the front-runners in the latter stages of the auction had been RB Capital and Sahara, the Indian group that bought the Grosvenor House on Park Lane just over a year ago for 470 million pounds.

Brigade Group opens Orion mall in Bangalore.

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Real estate developer Brigade Group has opened its flagship retail venture Orion mall in Brigade Gateway Enclave, Bangalore. Spread over 8.2 lakh sq. ft., the mall houses a mix of global and national brands.

Orion mall is developed and managed by Brigade Group and located in the Brigade Gateway Enclave that also includes the World Trade Centre, Sheraton Bangalore hotel, 1,200+ residences, Columbia Asia Hospital, The Brigade School, and Galaxy Club. The mall overlooks a two-acre manmade lake and has open-air children’s play area and amphitheatre.

Foley Designs and DSP Design are the interior designers, while HOK from New York has developed the main design of the mall. The mall has LED lighting solutions, automatic sensor controlled car parking, over 225 closed-circuit security cameras apart from 42 lifts and escalators.

Speaking on the occasion, Jaishankar, CMD, Brigade Group, said: “Orion mall will undoubtedly be the most sought-after destination amongst discerning shoppers and for brands of repute as well. With the launch of Orion, it truly transforms the Brigade Gateway Enclave into an exclusive integrated lifestyle enclave and marks the Brigade Group’s foray into the highly competitive retail segment.”

The mall has three entrances from Dr. Raj Kumar Road – Rajajinagar, Yeshwantpur (next to Metro Cash & Carry), and Railway Parallel Road – Malleswaram.
Orion has a hypermarket (Star Bazaar). Its food court (Sauce Pan) spreads over 55,000 sq. ft. Housing brands like Mc Donald’s, Subway, Sbarro, Rajdhani, Kailash Parbat, Empire, Empire Fresh Fruit Juice Centre, Indian Tadka, Mad about China, Mad over Donuts, Tiger bay, and Up south. The mall also houses a Reliance Digital store for electronics need.
For entertainment, Orion will house the largest PVR multiplex of the country – with 11 screens and over 2,800 seats. BluO, a 27-lane bowling centre will also open its first centre in the city. The lounge will offer entertainment options like Karaoke bar. The mall will also house Time Zone, an 8,000 sq. ft. gaming centre.

Brigade Group has completed over 100 projects, developing over 20 million sq. ft. of area since 1986.

Gurgaon is safe as an investment bet.

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Capital values rose by more than 30-35% in Gurgaon’s residential sector over the last one year. Developers are now going slow on execution of real estate projects, resulting in a drop in supply of residential apartments in most prime markets. Emerging residential areas are still not able to meet the huge housing demand.

Due to rampant construction delays, the expected supply of residential properties announced in early 2009 has not been able to reach the market. Around 500,000 units that were scheduled for possession in key markets by end of 2011 are delayed by another year.

There has been an increase in lateral hiring by corporates. With job scenario improving all over the country, people have more to spend. This has resulted in good investment opportunities, and investor sentiments in the affordable and mid-income segment of Gurgaon’s residential market have improved.

Gurgaon remains promising for office space, and there are good prospects for more major global players setting up operations here in near future. On the whole, this augurs well for the residential property market, more or less assuring relatively healthy absorption of residential space in the times to come. The new infrastructure initiatives being undertaken by the government will also play a crucial role for Gurgaon’s residential and commercial property sectors.

New Retail Mall “The Great India Place” Launched in Jaipur Mega Tourism City

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International Amusement Limited (IAL), the company behind Appu Ghar, has announced the launch of a new shopping mall “The Great India Place, Jaipur” under Jaipur Mega Tourism City. Spread over 20 acres, the mall will offer to the visitors shopping, dinning & entertainment in the form of bowling alleys, club, pubs, health club, multiplex, etc.

Inaugural Discount till 15th Feb, 2012 :
Ground Floor – Rs. 300/- per sq ft.
First Floor – Rs. 200/- per sq ft.
Villas – Rs. 300/- per sq ft

For more details or booking visit: http://jaipurtourismcity.propertywala.com/

DDA Relaxes Norms for Installing Lifts

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If you live on second or third floor in a DDA flat, then climbing those stairs is no more a back-breaking experience anymore. The DDA has eased the norms for installing lifts in its apartment blocks. The country’s biggest land development agency has been catering to Delhi’s housing needs for more than 40 years. Since, DDA structures have only 04 floors they do not have lifts.

Although flat-owners had so far been allowed to install lifts later on their buildings on their own, the procedure of getting permission was burdensome.  All the owners of an individual block, with eight to sixteen flats, have to agree to the proposal.

The new norm stipulates that lifts can be installed once most flat owners of the block agree. The consent of the ground floor owners is not required any longer. The cost of installing a lift is Rs 10-15 lakhs, which the flat owners would have to bear. The flat owners will have to apply for NOC to DDA for arrears. While applying for NOC, flat-owners will have to attain structural stability certificate from the registered architect.

Buying an Under – Constructed Flat.

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A newly constructed home may have its own charm, especially when its price is yet to hit the roof. Many individuals take the risk of booking a house in an under-construction building mainly for the same reason. It fulfills the dream of owning a house, but is also cheaper than a ready for possession flat. However, reports about certain builders failing to complete the project on time have made many potential  home buyers apprehensive about booking a flat in an under-constructed project. Many also wonder if they should book a property whose final shape is still not known.

There is a biggest advantage of an under-construction flat that you can also get the flat customised as per  your needs. You can also choose the locality and the site of the house, direction and floor when the developer is about to start the project. Locating them is easy, given the large advertisement campaigns that usually accompany a just-launched project and you need not have to go through the brokers. However, it is always better to mull over few critical points before booking a flat in an under-constructed  project.