Lodha Developers Ltd. has been selected as one of the India’s top ten builders on the basis of a survey conducted by Construction World, India’s premier magazine for the construction sector.
The survey was conducted over a period of 4 months among a spectrum of handpicked audience comprising industry professionals from across India.
Mr. Abhisheck Lodha, Director, Lodha Developers Ltd. said, “Our selection as one of the top ten builders in India by the Construction World is recognition to our standards of excellence in every aspect of our services and our presence in varied segments like high-rises to mid-income luxury, in the real estate sector”.
Instituted by ASAPP Media, the award is recognition of exceptional work done by architects and builders in various aspects of infrastructure and real estate industry over the years.
Tag Archives: Property
Real estate firm sees festival sales
Property firms are launching housing projects and raising pitch for ongoing ones in the hope of making decent sales going into the festive season. The mood among builders may be buoyant, but very few believe price hike is possible as demand is still hesitant and new supplies are hitting the market.
The festive season, which usually begins late September with the Hindu festival of Navratra and continues up to Christmas, often sees higher sales of property, cars and other durables.
Lodha developers is planning to launch two new projects, comprising apartments priced over Rs 1 crore, in Mumbai’s suburbs of Andheri and Thane. So far, the slow return of housing demand was scripted by lower-priced homes. But Lodha’s offerings indicate the builder is confident of getting buyers for high-priced segment as well.
Dax Properties setting up golf township
Dax Properties is setting up a 18-hole golf course-centric luxury retreat and township at Shadnagar near here which will entail investment of five hundred crore rupees.
The golf course will be spread over 130 acres on a 300-acre site earmarked for the Golf Retreat project, according to Mr Masood, MD of the Bangalore -based Dax Properties, part of Countryside Realtors.
Further he said, “We believe India has potential to serve golf lovers offering golf tourism in a majestic lush green environment where one could also buy luxury villas being developed on the property”.
Best Western opens property
Best Western India, the Indian affiliate of the international Best Western brand, opened its 13th operational property.
Branded as ‘Best Western Classic Avenue’, the 60-room, four-star luxury property is the second in Kerala after Kochi.
Best Western, among the world’s largest chain providing marketing, reservations and operational support to over four thousand independently owned and operated member-hotels in more than 80 countries.
According to Mr Sudhir Sinha, President and COO, Best Western India, occupancy rates have looked up by 20 – 25% to 65 %-plus since the lows registered during the recession period from September last.
Mr K. P. Sahadevan, Managing Director, Best Western Classic Avenue, said that an additional seventy rooms would be added to the property over the next three to four years to raise it to five-star category.
El Forge to sell Chennai property
The Chennai-based El Forge Ltd is selling its land at Thuraipakkam for ten crore rupees as part of its restructuring plan. The company, which made a loss of Rs 18 crore last year on a turnover of Rs 87 crore, will make a substantial profit on the transaction.
Company officials do not want to disclose the profit figure, pending conclusion of the transaction. The transaction is likely to be concluded in October and as such, the profits will be reflected in the accounts of the third-quarter.
The plant and machinery at Thuraipakkam have been moved to Appur, where a new facility has come up at an investment of hundred crore rupees.
Mr K. V. Ramachandran, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, said that the company is also shifting machinery from its leased facility in Gumidipoondi to Appur. It also has plant in Hosur. Across these plants, the company has an installed capacity is 21,600 tones a year.
Ansal to Invest 20 Billion Rupees on Townships
Ansal Properties and Infrastructure Ltd will invest twenty billion rupees in the this fiscal year as it seeks to capitalize on the demand for low-cost housing in India.
The investment will be the last installment of a total of sixty billion rupees earmarked last year by the company as the main investment to develop nineteen integrated townships over five to seven years. Ansal Properties spent forty billion rupees of the total in the last fiscal year.
Higher borrowing rates and property prices and fear of job losses in a slowing economy had hurt the demand for real estate in India last year. But, a series of stimulus packages and a reduction in loan rates by commercial banks are leading to a gradual recovery in demand this year.
Mafatlal puts property on the block
Photo by truedudiMafatlal Industries has put an eighty five thousand sq ft property in central Mumbai on the block hoping to generate between Rs 100 cr and Rs 150 cr. The proceeds will be used to revive the operations of the loss-making company.
A senior company official confirmed the decision to sell the property and said the bidding process could start within a couple of days.
Located at Lower Parel, the building called Mafatlal Chambers B, is one of the many properties in the city owned by the group.
Cushman & Wakefield (C&W), the international property consultant, is advising Mafatlal Industries on the deal. Industry trackers said the prevailing rate for commercial property in central Mumbai is in the range of Rs 15,000-20,000 per square feet. The minimum bid price for this property has been set at Rs 11,000 per square feet.
No late delivery fine if date not assured
Real estate developers cannot be fined for late delivery of possession of a flat to an allottee if no specific date of its delivery is mentioned in the contract.
The National Consumer Commission further held that the acceptance of the belated delivery of the flat in 1993 without protest renders it impossible for the consumer forum to award compensation to the buyer in this case.
Temasek look at Prestige
HDFC Property Ventures and Temasek are in talks to invest about Rs 625 crore in the Bangalore-headquartered Prestige Group, as cash-hungry real estate companies continue to tap private equity funds to meet critical funding needs.
HDFC’s real estate fund along with Singapore’s Temasek is in discussions with Prestige, which is seeking a valuation of $1 billion for its business. But the deal could take some time to fructify as both sides need to iron out a number of issues, including pricing.
Prestige Estates is seeking a valuation of about $1 billion. It is not clear if Temasek and HDFC are willing to do a deal at that price. They may look at something between $800 million and just under $1 billion.
The two funds may jointly pick up a little over 15% stake in Prestige Estates Projects, valuing the holding entity of the southern real estate major anywhere between $800 million and $1 billion.
Small cities are getting more interest
Due to the major hike in property prices in metros most of the people are showing interest for small cities. The new name in this list is the Neharpar city in Faridabad. Buyers as well as developers are started looking at Neharpar as the emerging real estate investment destination. It is supposed to become the big realty junction of NCR in near future. The development work is going on its best in this city and the most attracting point is that prices are much affordable.
Rush is back
We often read that recovery in realty market is visible now. Such news has reached to general people and they have started looking at property of their choice at affordable rates. Competition between builders results into rate cuts and attractive offers for buyers. It can be easily figured out by taking a look on the increment in property registration in major cities. With the improvement in macro-economic conditions and affordability of buyers, developers witnessed a stronger response to new launches across cities over the past quarter.
Real estate recovery is now visible
As we all know that property buyers are coming back to market, this time can be marked as market revival time. Once again the buyer has lots of choices and the seller has more profit from dealing. After observing the increase in demands in real estate industry, developers are all set to increase the prices of realty projects. If we talk about real estate companies, almost every company including DLF, are working on the same strategy.
With the wish to see real estate at its best in near future, I hope that the buyers will have more and more choices available to fulfill their needs.
Indian real estate trend
In coming years, India is expected to outperform the global markets with a growth rate in the range of 7 percent to 10 percent. This will benefit the real estate sector, which is closely linked to high growth in the economy.
A decrement in property prices, reduced interest rates and stability in the job market has helped the sector gain momentum once again. Developers now realized that affordability was the key to attract the prospective buyers; they tried out with smaller sized apartment. Projects that were launched in this segment received a good response, which indicated that home-buyers were waiting for a good opportunity.
Real estate- the best investment destination
The economic slump had a major impact on real estate. The price has come down over the last few months. People with a huge disposable income can explore investing in real estate for diversification of their assets. Reduced home loan interest rates and lower property prices makes it an opportunity hard to resist.
Some investments are considered safe in times of recession like precious metals and foreign currencies. In this list of investments that are popular during times of financial insecurity, real estate can be included.
Real estate is considered a hedge against forces of inflation. Inflation has led to the rupee value depreciating and property prices travelling upwards. Property investments are usually held over a long term.
Lodha hikes bid price for NTC’s Finlay
Lodha Developers is ready to deal a 10.3-acre plot in Central Mumbai for Rs 710 crore in what could be the biggest realty deal this year, a sign that the slump in real estate sector may have finally gone. Company’s director Mr. Abhishek Lodha declared the offer made to acquire the Finlay Mill property belonging to NTC.
The developer is looking to fund the transaction through an IPO to raise three thousand crore rupees by end of August.
Lodha’s earlier bid for the 10.3-acre mill land was Rs 657.9 crore when the reserve price was fixed at Rs 708 crore. On Thursday, NTC’s asset review committee did not accept Lodha’s bid on grounds that it was much lower than the reserve price.
Lodha communicated to NTC its decision to increase its offer price for the Finlay property. The other bidder in the fray for the property was Indiabulls Real Estate at Rs 520 crore.
The payment for the Finlay Mill acquisition would be made in three tranches over three months. The deal will be inked between Lodha and NTC in the next ten days.
NTC board to decide on bid
Lodha Developers’ Rs 657.9-crore bid for the 10.3-acre Finlay Mill property in central Mumbai has not been cleared by the asset review committee of the National Textile Corporation. Bid was placed on 16th of this month. NTC’s asset review committee was to take a decision, as it was much lower than the reserve price. The committee could not arrive at decision, as many members were against awarding the land parcel at a price lower than the reserve price.
NTC MD K Ramchandran Pillai said, “The asset committee had the power to take a decision. Now, the NTC board will decide whether to award the Finlay Mill land to Lodha.” On July 16, the Finlay Mill property received two bids from Lodha and Indiabulls for Rs 657.9 crore and Rs 520 crore, respectively. This was widely viewed as a revival of the real estate.
Mumbai is most preferred property investment destination
The financial capital Mumbai now ranks as the most preferred destination for investing in properties, while Chennai has replaced Bangalore.
The survey, “Trend in residential space across top cities in the current scenario” ranked Mumbai as the most preferred destination to invest in property while in south, Chennai is in the first place for property investments, overtaking Bangalore.
Cities like Patna, Nasik, Tiruchirapalli and Madurai have also become choive destinations for property investments, the survey said.
It said 60 percent of respondents felt interest rates for home loan would come down further in the coming months, while 40 percent evinced interests on properties with an area between 500 to 1,000 square feet.
More than three thousand people from the metros and other cities, including Pune, Ahmedabad, Thane, Coimbatore, and Vadodara participated in the survey.
“Market sentiments are reviving and people are ready to invest. Based on our survey, more than 60 percent of customers are looking at buying residential properties in the next six months. They also have a hope that interest rates on home loans will soon come down”, Consim Info Founder and CEO Murugavel Janakiraman said.
Commercial realty back to its position
After long time of stagnation in the commercial real estate market in Mumbai, there is finally some revival. First off the block was the 10.3-acre Finlay Mill property for which there have been bids from Lodha Developers and Indiabulls Real Estate. On July 31, NTC will put the 16-acre Kohinoor Mill-1 property also on the block, for which the base price will be Rs 1,200 crore. Both these properties are in central Mumbai.
In the case of Finlay Mill property, the last day for the submission of bids was Thursday. Lodha Developers and Indiabulls Real Estate have put in their bids. The base price for this property, which has a buildable area of 4.20 lakh square feet, is Rs 708 crore with Lodha’s bid at Rs 657.9 crore and Indiabulls’ at Rs 520 crore. The property was put on block twice earlier.
It is learnt that property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj has been mandated for the sale of the Kohinoor Mill-1 land. This is the first time that this land is being put on the block. The Kohinoor Mill-1 property is different from that of Kohinoor Mill-3, which was bought by Manohar Joshi and Raj Thackeray for Rs 421 crore in 2005.
PVP sells property to SRM
Courtesy: SeracatPVP Ventures has sold its 90- ground prime property at Vadapalani in Chennai to education group SRM for Rs 140 crore. The property developed over 90 grounds with a built-up space of 3 lakh square feet. SRM University has chalked out big plans for making use of the office space. It is in the process of setting up its admissions office.
PVP Ventures has been on a property selling spree and the deal with SRM comes on the back of the sale of its theatre complex in the city’s suburbs and a hotel property in Ooty. The company is learnt to be selling its properties in an effort to focus on its core businesses of urban infrastructure and power generation.