Mumbai: Sofitel, the French brand, handled by Accor Group in India, a luxury chain of hotels, is looking to acquire 10 or more prime luxury destination.

Both Sofitel and Accor Group are forming a JV to buy all the properties.

Sofitel globally has 120 properties of which 40 are located in the Asia Pacific Region. The firm has one luxurious property and two hotels in Mumbai which will be operational by the 2017.

Sofitel has a man force of 5,000 in India but it is also expected to be doubled when it will acquire the other properties.

The French brand is thinking to acquire 10 or more properties in India, to increase their business in the growing economy in couple of year’s time.

The luxury brand is looking for more construction and branding in all major cities of the country like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Goa , Bangalore etc.

Sofitel is all about luxury, so the firm focuses on elegancy and sophistication in their premier hotels and resorts.

The luxury brand is very eager to acquire land and will start all the constructions as quick as possible.

The company had to face huge challenges in India in the name of license required for every thing and the lack of skilled work force is also another hurdle for the firm to do business.

Bangalore: IT hub Bangalore real estate market is gaining momentum beating the gloomy quarter after the T-issue looming over the southern part of the country. Developers like Sobha Developers and Prestiage estate have got huge investor interest after strong sales in last quarter.

Over the last month, shares of Sobha and Prestige have gained drastically to 27pc and 19 pc, as compared to the other quarter. For three months, sales of Sobha piled up 20 pc to reach Rs 632.2 cr, while Prestige went up by 31 pc to achieve Rs 1,150 cr. The sales of these developers indicate the strength of the Bangalore’s real estate market.

In a report by Cushman Wakefield the IT hub would be getting benefits from its IT industry and the great bonanza is the deprecation in the rupee. According to sources, Bangalore has become the leading metro in inventory absorption in both residential and commercial requirements. Both Sobha and Prestige are ahead in their guidance numbers in terms of sales, cash collection and launches.

The two realtors have strong balance sheets, with Sobha having 1.5 to Debt-to-equity and Prestige is having 1 in the ratio. Debts of both the firms will increase but their debt-to-equity will be unchanged.

New Delhi: The way realty- sector advertisements are growing day by day it indicates, the developers are clearly trying to woo the  customers, who had been postponing there plans to invest in the slow market. The ad volume has jumped up by 30pc on TV and newspapers as compared to the last year.

These ads peaked during June-July to woo the buyers. Realty firms are giving discounts and offers in the festive season. Discounts and offers have increased by 45-50 pc and we can see the further hike by Diwali and the year-end, when the firms will try to see off their inventories.

A marketing executive in Noida said,” Advertising is the best medium to reach out to people and build a factor of trust and confidence among them. It may not help generate sales, but it has a positive impact on a developer’s brand.”

Sudhir Pai, business head, of a top property portal, says: “There is no slowdown in developers’ marketing activities. They are trying to sell whatever they can in these two-three months of festival season and that is causing the advertisement rush.”

Real estate portals like Magicbricks.com, 99acres.com, Propertywala.com and makaan.com, are fast becoming the consumer choice looking to rent or buy property across the country.

“In real estate, people have a different mindset. If a developer is advertising, there is an assurance to brokers, channels, partners and customers that the product has got all the clearances. It is an important confidence-building exercise. Though, of course, the purpose of advertisements is to push sales”, said another head of a realty firm.

Realty companies battling with a high inventory levels and low sales are roping in some big celebrities for their projects.

Many firms have not delivered on their commitment and they have very fewer launches this year. The firms are trying to clear their backlogs without going for direct price cuts.

NEW DELHI: Market watchdog Sebi’s plan to allow the listing of Real Estate Investment Trusts(REITs) is a good step and will boost the developments of the developers , Credai said.

The industry body said it would soon submit ideas on Sebi’s drafted guidelines on REITs.

Sebi finished the draft norms of REITs, a five-year old proposal and it is similar to mutual funds which can generate rental income initially.

He also added that “the REIT will also result in increased inflow of foreign funds for the sector, which is struggling for funds in view of the RBI restrictions and negative weightage given to real estate”.

The industry body will soon submit the developers’ viewpoint to Sebi and the market regulator has also asked stakeholders to give their suggestions on the guidelines soon.

To attract more investors, the market regulator has proposed REITs asking the evolution of these investments to be much crucial for the rapid growth of the realty industry.

Knight Frank India Chief Economist & Director, Research, Samantak Das, said the Sebi’s decision to revive the program to allow REITs after five long years give a positive signal that the market regulator is ready to implement REITs market in the country on priority basis.

The move is a progressive move which will boost the realty market in the country and will more finance to invest, will also open new options for the developers and avenues for the investors.

New Delhi: The Government have finalized the rules to implement the most awaited  Land Acquisition Act with a favor and social responsibility to ensure the rights of the farmers when their land is acquired by the Government or private sectors.

The drafted guidelines for the act have been published out in the public domain for suggestions. The drafted guidelines with all the suggestions are asked to submit before 45 days to the Rural Development Ministry by the Cabinet.

All the documents and consent records should be publicly available and all requests for information are fulfilled within seven days.

“The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013” gives mandatory consent of at least 70pc for partnership and 80 pc for private companies.

The draft says that for a large project where the acquisition spreads across various locations, deeds must be done in all the areas in the same time.

The Govt must take adequate steps to solve issues regarding land rights, land records, so that all the land owners can be identify correctly before starting the deed process.

The rules also stated that if in any case land owner asks more info on the terms and conditions of compensation and resettlement after the public hearing, they must be addressed immediately and should be provided information immediately by the designated officials.

New Delhi: The Central Government would soon draw norms to relax FDI infusion for the realty sector, including easing the three-year lock-in period rule.

The draft has been finalized and will send for the Cabinet approval, an official said. By relaxing the norms, the Dept of Industrial Policy and Promotion aims to woo more FDI investment and to make houses affordable.

The provisions include easing three-year lock-in period and the minimum capitalization is expected to reduce from $10mn to $ 5 mn for wholly-owned subsidiaries.

The draft also proposed a reduction in the minimum built-up area of 50,000 sq mts to 20,000 sq mts of carpet area in developing projects.

But the current FDI policy, gives an impression of lock-in period of three years by a foreign investor from the date of receipt with the minimum capitalsation.

During April 2000 and July 2013, infra development including townships, and housing, the market received FDI worth $22.43 billion around 11 pc of the total FDI attracted by the country.

The DIPP which deals with FDI related matter, issues provisions in the form Press Notes or consolidated circulars.

Although, the Cabinet had approved 100 pc foreign direct investment in townships, housing and built-up infrastructure and construction developments, the government has imposed conditions on it.

BANGALORE: One of the largest foreign investor in Indian realty sector Xander, is gearing up to acquire 100 pc stakes of an IT Special Economic Zone (SEZ)  from the Shriram group for Rs 690 cr.

The global fund house has infused over $ 1.2 billion in Chennai, has inked a initial deed and is working towards a final deal to settle down. Shriram Properties, the diversified arm of the giant Shriram Group, has developed the SEZ  on 58 acres purchased from Standard Motors in 2006.

Shriram Group and Sun Apollo a private investor which owns a share in the project have been in talks to decide the valuation for the tech-park from past one year. Another bidder Ascendas a Singapore based IT park developer had also shown interest in the property but was discarded due to lower bid. The Shriram Group is developing a 2.5-million sq ft tech-park, of which 1.7 million sq ft will be ready in next three months.

The Southern giant declined to give comment on the deed, while Xander remained silent through the proceedings.

The SEZ is mostly leased, except for the 2,00,000 sqft nearing completion currently. Sources said Xander is likely to have first right of refusal on the remaining 8,00,000 sq ft of commercial space development , which is expected to be completed in next 2 years.

New Delhi: Indiabulls Housing a private lender curbs its home loan by 0.15 pc to bring down the lending rate to 10.25 pc, following the public sector institutes during the festive seasons.

The new rate plan will be valid on loans under Rs 25 lakh and will be relevant till November end.

Indiabull being the first of its own kind to decline the interest rates after big boys in banking sector initiated the move to attract customers.

The Public sector Bank SBI, offers the cheapest loan at 10.15 pc, with other banks like IDBI and PNB following the leader. The Finance ministry has also asked the PSU banks to cut down the interest rate to boost the economy.

Kolkata: The Central and State Government are gearing up to convert Rajarhat Town to a complete solar city. In this JV the Govt will teach people how to utilize solar and renewable energy to fulfill the basic necessity of a township. The cost estimated is around Rs 400 cr if all the plans are implemented to build the solar city.

Some senior officials of the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) presented the master plan before the ministry in the National Capital a couple of days back, where it was given a green signal.

After the nod the authority body will prepare a detailed report of the projects to develop the township and will ask for the Centre’s approve to implement it.  The body has already prepared 12 or more detailed reports to work on.

The master plan of the solar town has been prepared to reduce the energy demand from usual power sources. There are two strategies developed by the administrators- one is by use of solar and renewable energy and another is by using more efficient devices.

The master plan includes program of using LED light, star rated air conditioners, so that will consume less power and use of fans and motors with energy efficient machines. The body is also giving a stress on green buildings. Other than this the authorities are thing of taking awareness programs with the help of eco clubs involving school kids.

Mumbai: Mumbai witnessed a marginal dip in the rental values with sluggish leasing activity during the third quarter this year. The small markets of Lower Parel, Thane and Navi Mumbai seen maximum traction and were mostly preferred for leasing activity, said the latest report of CBRE’s, India Office Market view in third quarter.

The rental values decline by 2-3 pc while the vacancy remained stable with a estimate range of 6-7 pc in the city. Central places like Nariman Point, Fort and Cuffe Parade had suffered the most. They face a less transaction activity, due to a shift towards peripheral locations in the third quarter.

Business Districts of BandraKurala Complex, Kalina, and Kurla (W), seen a decline in commercial leasing this quarter. Almost 0.10 mn sqft was taken in this quarter, compared less to the previous quarters.
The Business centers in Lower Parel have seen a strong demand for corporates.  Around 0.26 mn sq ft of fresh IT space had been occupied on the supply front. The rental value remains the same in commercial developments, due to the availability of commercial space in the area. But on the other hand, leasing work in small markets of Worli and Prabhadevi remained very low.

The marginal small markets of Thane and Navi Mumbai have seen strong demand for office premises to shift focus towards these cost-effective locations.  Absorption was recorded at around 0.33 mn as compared to 0.20 mn in the previous quarter.

MUMBAI: Private equity firms with huge hunger knotting up with big boys in realty to build large assets and to earn stable returns.

While the overall numbers of reality private equity transactions have fallen over the last one year, funds are focusing more on tying up with reputed builders to create large asset.

In recent deals, realty firm Redfort Capital infused money into Lotus Green while Mahidra inked JV with Standard Charted bank to develop projects.

Analysts say this type of deals could gather momentum, “There have been cases of more and more partnerships in residential and commercial assets at construction stage and WE anticipate that in the next few quarters, the momentum will pick up,” said an official. “Tying up with a particular builder helps fund houses avoid coordination and leasing activities,” latter he added.

Earlier this year, Bangalore-based RMZ Corp got $300 million investment deal from Qatar Investment Authority to back the RMZ’s IT park which is worth Rs 3000 crores. The Delhi based Lotus Greens got Rs 1000 crores funding from the Red Fort Capital for its NCR region residential project . US PE giant Black stone last year bought 50 % stake in an SPV commercial properties gaining 19 mn sq ft.

Slowdown in building activity has left funds with very few projects for investors to invest in. According to a data from Venture Intelligence, the first nine months of this year saw 28 deeds with $1,115 mn, down about 6 pc from the last year.

New Delhi: The NCR body of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (Credai) has successfully resolved 896 issues between a consumer and developer at the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF). From a total of 990 cases 90 pc of the cases are being solved in the opening year with a huge customer satisfaction.

In the AGM the forum got huge appreciation for its deeds held recently in Delhi, which was attended by record 132 developers from the North region.

The forum was set up in October last year to provide a platform to customers to resolve their cases. In first five months the body received 311 plaints, and the body solved all most all the cases.

The CGRF is conducting its program twice in a month and for better coordination five sub-chapters under the Credai-NCR were set up.

Huda dismisses extra fee for alternative plots

Gurgaon: The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has denied the people to give extra fee those who were allotted alternative plots instead of the original plots given to them.

The Haryana authority had sent notice for the excessive fee but later withdraw all the notices.

A client from Gurgaon was allotted a plot in Sector 28, but due to some dispute on the plot, Huda gave another plot to him in Sector 38 and asked him to pay an extra amount for the plot.

After paying the enhancement amount the plot owner moved to the Punjab and Haryana High court challenging the Huda’s notice.

The High Court gave its verdict in the favor of the plot owner and said “The petitioner is likely to pay the extra money for Sector 38, since the plot owner deposited the money before filling a suit; Huda is directed to refund the amount, if there is no extra acquisition cost in sector 38”.

The court also quashed the notice issued to the plot owner and directed the body to refund the enhancement fees to the petitioner.

Noida: The Noida Authority is planning to give away 900 flats to every section of the society this Diwali at cheaper rates. An official confirmed that around 700 flats in Sectors 55, 56, 71, 93 and 135 are selected for the project. In these sectors the flats will be allotted for low income group and economically weaker sections.

The body is busy in surveying to identify unused flats which are lying vacant for many years from past one month. The costs of the flats are not finalized yet but according to sources the cost will be cheaper to existing market rates.

The cost of the flats will be calculated by the finance department.

The body will soon finalize the date on which applicants will able to buy forms and the flats will be allotted through lucky draws on Diwali.

There are few MIG and HIG flats on avail but EWS and LIG flats are higher in number said an official.

The body has also decided to launch 501 commercial purposes in Sector 69.

The Noida Authority had got a flat scheme last in 2006-2007.

Kochi: During a survey of mangrove trees on Mulayakad island in Kochi, prominent environmental activist found that much of the mangrove wealth had been destroyed by the real estate mafia in the sake of developmental activities.

A group of eight activists conducted the survey of mangroves in the region. They were socked to find out that the Vembanad lake has been invaded by the realty mafia.

The lake is protected under the Ramsar convention due to International importance. The lake comes under highly protected Coastal Regulation Zone.

The activists found that the lake was encroached at various points through chopping of the mangroves and land-filling. The realtors are secretly building ridges in the backwaters at night. The mangroves are quietly chopped off to fill the land with red soil to invade the water body, said an activist. The mafia has even put up boundary walls at several points of the backwater.

Unless the administration take some strict action against the invaders, the lake will shrink more and more, the lake has reduced to a third of its original capacity, confirmed an activist.

As many as 10 acres of mangroves had been chopped off recently. Developmental schemes such as international container terminal had led destruction of the 110 acres of mangroves.

The greens also said the mangroves are destroyed by using chemicals in the ocean.

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Government is planning a new ‘Integrated Industrial Township Policy’ for the private sector for nurturing Industrial Township in the state. Under the developmental scheme, Akhilesh Govt will be roping private lands for developing the township with industrial technology.

The new policy seems to be industry-friendly including townships catering all kinds of units and sector-specific industries.

The proposed plan will provide more preferences to the willing industrialists to set up their units in the state Industrial Corporation thus creating a good competitive environment for high class infra development.

These days industrial plots are in high demand and specially developments required around Delhi-Mumbai and Amritsar-Delhi-Kolkata corridors for which private sector participation is essential, said an official of state Govt.

The Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Authority (UPSIDA) has been asked to draft the new policy with in 15 days after getting the suggestions from the stakeholders and officials. The Govt wants a minimum supervisory function along with the development of township to be non-transferable. Private enterprises will have to arrange the land for the project.

UPSIDA has asked the willing developer to submit the detailed project for the township after arranging the land.

The body will prepare the master-plan, which would be followed by the private enterprises in developing the township.

Mumbai: Mhada may come under huge renovation of Motilal Nagar Housing Colony in Goregaon (West). The plan was purposed during the Mhada meeting. The Mhada spreads over 125 acre, comprising 3,700 tenements which was build three decades ago. Under the redevelopment scheme every family is entitled to get 600 s ft flat free of cost.

The colony can use the remaining land to construct more 32,000 affordable flats. If the plan gets the Govt nod, this will be the first time that Mhada will redevelop its property instead of handing it over to a private Realtor. But the families fear of developers using political lobby to scuttling the project as the stakes are very high.

The Bombay High Court is hearing a PIL against the colony of having over 6,000 illegal buildings. Many residents have internally carried out horizontal and vertical extensions without prior permission the PIL also said. The court had asked the authorities to survey and presents a detailed report.

BANGALORE: The Bangalore-based developer Embassy Property Developments is gearing up to raise Rs 800 cr in debt to develop an IT park in the city. The developer is in discussions with several banks and financial companies including HDFC and Indiabulls to raise the required amount.

Earlier, Embassy and US leading Private Equity firm Blackstone were jointly acquiring the 2.1 mn Vrindavan Tech Park but now the Blackstone will only enter in the project if Embassy buys 100 pc stake in the park.

When asked about the development a HDFC official denied the project, Indiabulls are unaware of any such talks with the developer.

The southern developer plans to fund Rs 1,951 cr and Rs 800 cr through debt and the rest amount through equity. According to sources, there is Rs 315 cr debt on the project from a public sector bank.  The tech park developed with the help of Citi Group which may fund a little for the project.

Post acquiring the tech-park the JV will not only get 2.1 mn space but will also get 75 acre of undeveloped land in the park.

To raise the required funds the developer is also thinking to sale off some space to Blackstone. The PE had also bought some stakes from the Embassy group last October.

Bangalore: The Karnataka Government has finally decided to issue an all-in-one property card to the property owners in Bangalore. This card can be a gift to the public before Diwali.

To restrain the duplications of papers, the Govt has finally approved the Urban Property Ownership Record (UPOR).

The property card will be authentic and will contain all the details of the property including tax receipts. Without the card no registrations can be taken place in the city. The first phase of the project covers Malleswaram, Yeshwantpur, Rajajinagar, Jayanagar East, Siddapura and Yediyur.

In a span of 90 days, project staff will be reaching on the doorsteps of the IT city to verify property deeds before issuing the card. Tenders have been floated to start surveying and verification for properties in 50 wards of the City.

The bids will close on October 18 after which the Govt will select agencies to undertake the survey and verifications in the ward. The remaining wards will be completed in the second phase, confirmed an official.

The Govt will issue notices to the property owners to be ready with their documents. Once the documents are verified, the department will issue a property card. If the owner has any complain he can apply again and will be issued a final property card.