Latest Property News on 'Bangalore'

Puravankara Q4 net profit zooms over two-fold

Bangalore: Real-estate developer Puravankara Group today reported an over two-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 46.05 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2012.
The city-headquartered company’s revenues during the quarter grew by 49 per cent to Rs 232.11 crore.

The board of the company has recommended a dividend of 20 per cent.

Revenues for 2011-12 were up 36 per cent at Rs 815.46 crore, while net profit rose by 15 per cent to Rs 135.73 crore.

Sales realisation for the Group in the year was Rs 3,930 per sq ft against Rs 3,303 per sq ft in the previous fiscal.

“We expect 2012-13 to offer a more conducive environment in terms of the various growth indicators and believe that absorption levels will increase,” Chairman and Managing Director Ravi Puravankara said.

The company said it has done well both in the luxury and premium affordable segments and has maintained margins both at the gross and PBT levels.

Bangalore realty market attracts HNIs

BANGALORE: The residential real estate market in Bangalore has emerged as an attractive investment proposition, with high net worth individuals attracted by the city’s stable demand outlook and attractive pricing, mention a recent report by CBRE.

“Around 30% of the total real estate demand in Bangalore is investor driven while 70% is end users,” says J C Sharma vice chairman and MD of Sobha Developers.

The growing demand for home upward of Rs 1.5 crore has led to increase in launches of new properties in the premium segment. Some of the key luxury projects launched in 2011 included Nitesh Logos at MG Road, Four Seasons’ CityView at Bellary Road, Sobha City at Thanisandra and Prestige Edwardian at Cunningham Road

“We have sold 100 units in last three months. There is a huge demand from people who now wants to upgrade to bigger house,” says Raj Menda MD RMZ Corp

However, property prices were largely stable for most part of the year, with growth witnessed in the last quarter only. “Capital values in and around the CBD appreciated by 12-15% y-o-y,” mentioned the report.

PEs like Blackstone, KKR in talks to buy Vijay Mallya’s office towers for Rs 650 crore

BANGALORE/ MUMBAI: Beleaguered billionaire Vijay Mallya’s investment holding company UB Holdings is in talks with Blackstone and KKR to unlock value of its office spaces, including the iconic head office UB Tower, said banking sources briefed on the matter.

PE investor may acquire Mallya’s office real estate, part of the UB City development in the heart of Bangalore, through a structured equity deal for roughly Rs 650 crore.

UB Holdings is also the parent of the debt-laden kingfisher Airlines. UB Group CFO Ravi Nedungadi offered “no comments” in reply to a texted query. A group spokesperson quoting Mallya denied that UB Tower was for sale. He did not elaborate.

The discussions with the competing PE investors are centered around a sale and lease back model, with UB Holdings having the right to buyback after a fixed period. “So it may not be sale technically,” said one of the sources mentioned earlier.

UB City is a joint venture between Mallya’s UB Holdings and Prestige Developers, with 1.6 million sqft mixeduse development comprising of office spaces, luxury retail and hospitality. Mallya solely owns UB Tower, while the rest of the property is split between the two JV partners.

The 200,000 sqft luxury hotel, Oakwood Serviced Residences, is owned by Prestige. Mallya’s share of UB City is around 905,000 sqft, with UB Tower alone being 300,000 sqft.

UB Tower, which is 123 metres high and one of the tallest buildings in city as of date, houses all the UB Group companies corporate offices, which include United Breweries, United Sprits, Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers, and UB holdings. Some of the other big corporate names occupying the office space in UB City include 3M, Apple, Citibank, Ernst & Young, Kawasaki and Yahoo!

Blackstone declined to comment while queries to a senior KKR executive remained unanswered at the time of going to press.

“Mallya is offering a 13% return on rental incomes,” said a source privy to the ongoing developments, and added that rental monetization package which Mallya had struck with HDFC would not come in the way of the deal. “The rental monetization package brought only around Rs 100 to Rs 150 crore for Mallya, which can be paid off with the money got from the sale and lease back model he plans to do now,” said the source.

PE investors like Blackstone have been on the prowl to buy out rent-yielding office space assets. The risk investors, who have shied away from typical PE investments in broader realty market, find office space a safer bet. Blackstone clinched two IT park deals recently in Bangalore and Pune.

BEML housing society flouted allotment rules: ex-employees

Bangalore: A housing co-operative created in Karnataka by the employees of defence public sector unit BEML, whose top management is currently under the CBI scanner for alleged irregularities in the purchase of Tatra trucks, has been accused of allotting as many as 63 residential sites in violation of housing co-operative rules in 10 housing colonies under its purview.

In a complaint to the registrar of co-operative societies, some former employees of BEML have accused the management of the housing co-operative of allotting plots to 39 members without applications and 24 outsiders or non-members in its housing colonies.

In a letter written to Karnataka Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, the president of the National Confederation of Ex-employees Association of PSUs, S N Ashok, has linked some of these out-of-turn allotments as payoffs to muzzle questioning of the Tatra deal.

Seeking an inquiry by the Corps of Detectives in Karnataka, Ashok has estimated that property worth Rs 80 crore has been illegally given away to non-employees by the BEML Employees Co-operative Society Ltd.

Apart from allotting properties to persons not connected directly with BEML, the co-operative is accused of allotting land to employees who had not completed a mandatory five-year term with the company, to members of the board and to on-deputation employees.

K S Periyaswamy, an ex-employee of BEML, has alleged that close relatives and friends of T K A Nair, an adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, are among the recipients of sites meant for the BEML employees. The out-of-turn allotments has resulted in several genuine employees not being allotted properties in BEML colonies, Periya-swamy has stated.

The ex-employee of BEML has accused chairman of BEML V R S Natarajan of influencing the management of the BEML Employees Co-operative to make out-of-turn allotments. Natarajan himself has been accused of availing two properties in violation of housing co-operative bye-laws.

Preethi Prabha, a relative of Nair who had been allocated site number 14 measuring 2,400 square feet in a BEML housing colony in the Uttarahalli region of Bangalore in December 2008 had returned her site in 2010 after complaints were filed with the PM, the official of the ex-employees’ confederation said.

There may be many more people connected to top persons in the establishment in the list of illegal allottees of sites in BEML housing colonies, Ashok said. “Every time there was a visiting delegation from the Central government to BEML in recent years, be it an SC/ST commission or any other body the visitors were given lavish gifts, including gold biscuits,’’ Periyaswamy claimed.

Hundreds of housing co-operatives in Bangalore have over the years been plagued by similar allegations of out-of-turn allotments and violations of bye-laws by managements.

The Bangalore Development Authority which provides the land to housing co-operatives and validates the allotments and their legality rarely intervenes in out-of-turn allotments. Among the most controversial has been the Karnataka State Judicial Department Employees House Building Co-operative Society where the allotment of properties to judges has in the past been called into question. The issue was resolved after a ruling said judges were also eligible.

A case filed against irregularities in housing co-operatives across Bangalore is currently pending before the Karnataka High Court.

No illegal allotments, says Nair
New Delhi: Denying allegations of any ‘wrongdoing’ in the allotment of plots by the Housing Co-operative Society of BEML, Prime Minister’s adviser T K A Nair on Sunday claimed in a statement that “no irregularity or illegality” was involved in it “to the best of my knowledge”.

Nair’s statement came in the wake of media reports suggesting that two plots were allotted to his niece and a friend in Bangalore in an “irregular” manner.

Nair said he had sought “all the relevant facts” in this matter even as he dismissed as “absolutely baseless” any linkage to the Tatra truck deal. “My attention has been drawn to media reports about the alleged irregular allotment of residential plots of the Housing Co-operative Society of BEML to my relatives and family friends. To the best of my knowledge no irregularity or illegality was involved in the allotments,” Nair said.

“I have requested the PMO to obtain all the relevant facts of this matter through the Department of Defence Production,” he said.

The Hindu in its report from Bangalore on Sunday reported that the plots were allotted to Nair’s niece Preethi Prabha and family friend Uma Devi Nambiar at “throwaway prices” in BEML society in South Bangalore in 2008.

It further said the allotments were made at a time when complaints about the role of BEML chairman and managing director V R S Natarajan in controversial Tatra truck deal were pending with the Prime Minister’s Office besides the Central Vigilance Commission and Ministry of Defence. Responding to this, Nair said, “The insinuation linking these allotments with the Tatra deal is absolutely baseless.”

Equinox Realty to invest Rs 600cr on housing project in B’lore

New Delhi: Essar Group real estate company Equinox Realty will invest about Rs 600 crore on construction of its first housing project in Bangalore.

The company, which forayed into the realty sector in 2007, has appointed construction major L&T to build its housing project ‘Water’s Edge’ spread over 8 acres of land.

“This will be our first residential project. We will develop about 400 flats in this project. The starting price in the initial phase would be Rs 1.5 crore onwards,” Equinox Realty Chief Executive Officer Cherag Ramakrishnan said.

“We have appointed L&T for construction of this project with a total built-up-area of about 2 million square feet,” he said, adding that the project would be completed in the next four and half years.

Asked about the project cost, he said “it would be about Rs 550-600 crore excluding land price”. The planned investment would be largely funded through internal accruals.

L&T’s scope of work includes all shell & core and the finishing works. The project will have five 40-storeyed towers, which will be among the tallest buildings in the city.

Ramakrishnan said the company is targetting people who want to experience luxury lifestyle with all urban conveniences.

The sizes of the flats would be between 2,500 square feet and 3,800 square feet and the basic selling price has been fixed at Rs 5,660/square feet.

Apart from this project, he said the company is developing a 1.2 million square feet office complex in Mumbai. It is also developing many projects for other Essar Group companies which are used for captive purposes.

On expansion, Ramakrishnan said the company is looking for more projects in Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune. “We have land in Mumbai and we are in active discussions to acquire land in Bangalore and Pune”.

Source: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/equinox-realty-to-invest-rs-600cr-on-housing-project-in-blore/937023/0

A Bangalore record: Ultra luxurious flat goes for Rs 33,000 per sqft

BANGALORE: The IT City’s residential real estate price has touched a new peak: Rs 33,000 per sqft. A recent apartment sale at Kingfisher Towers, an ultra highend residential project coming up on Vittal Mallya Road, recorded this rate. It’s said to be the highest residential capital value in the city’s history.

Kingfisher Towers, 34 storeys high, is a joint venture between the UB Group and the Prestige Group.

Sources privy to the development informed TOI the apartment was one of the few remaining in Kingfisher Towers, and is on one of the highest floors, with a view of Cubbon Park. The 8,200 sqft apartment will cost about Rs 27 crore.

Super luxury homes emerging in Bangalore’s city centre are attracting the wealthy. Ashok Kheny, MD of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises, booked an 8,000-sqft apartment in Kingfisher Towers last year. Kheny would not talk about the price, but sources say he will pay Rs 24 crore.

RATES KISS SKY

Rs 1,07,000/sqft

Flat 203, Samudra Mahal, Worli

Rs 97,842/sqft

4-bedroom flat at NCPA Apartments, Nariman Point

Rs 33,000/sqft

Bangalore rates still below those in Mumbai

Bangalore : Real estate watchers say Bangalore’s real estate has come of age with an apartment rate of Rs 33,000 per sqft . “While Rs 33,000 per sqft shows the coming of age of Bangalore’s luxury residential market, it’s still way behind the average price of Rs 70,000 per sqft that’s quoted at many luxury residential developments in Mumbai,” says Gulam Zia, national director, research & advisory services, of global property consultants Knight Frank.

Mantri’s Altius was one of Bangalore’s first super luxury projects . Launched in 2004, a 6,000-sqft apartment was then sold at Rs 5 crore. The price shot up to Rs 9 crore when the project was completed in 2006.

Total Environment has launched a new project , Van Gogh’s Garden, that offers 17 customized apartments , each having a terrace garden and a water body. The 4,000-9 ,000 sqft apartments cost between Rs 10 crore and Rs 23 crore.

At Rs 33,000 per sqft , Bangalore’s rate is still way below the rates Mumbai has recorded. In November 2010, a national record was created when Flat 203 of Samudra Mahal, Worli, was sold for Rs 1,07,000 per sqft . In 2007, a fourbedroom unit at NCPA Apartments , Nariman Point, fetched a rate of Rs 97,842 per sqft .

Farook Mahmood, CMD of brokerage firm Silverline Realty, says Kingfisher Towers is “a one-of-a-kind project whose amenities, specs , infrastructure and location – overlooking Cubbon Park – cannot be recreated or compared with any other residential project in India. Just for its sheer location and view, the only comparison can be made with apartments overlooking Central Park in New York.”

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/real-estate/news-/a-bangalore-record-ultra-luxurious-flat-goes-for-rs-33000-per-sqft/articleshow/12620291.cms

Pranab Mukherjee lays foundation for financial city near Bangalore

BANGALORE: Finance Minister Prarnab Mukherjee on Sunday laid the foundation stone for the country’s first financial city, being built by the state-run IFCI Infrastructure Development Ltd (IIDL) at the Hardware Park near the international airport at Bagalur, about 30 km from Bangalore.

“We are developing India’s first financial city as a premium urban infrastructure in association with leading banks and institutions on 50 acres of land, provided by the Karnataka government,” IFCI chief executive and IIDL chairman Atul Kumar Rai said on the occasion.

The ambitious project is scheduled to be completed in three years.

The layout of the financial city is based on Zen geomancy concept with effective circulation and activity patterns.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Gurgaon/Realtors-to-face-action-for-violating-fire-norms/Article1-837632.aspx

HDFC bank to lend Rs 150 crore for Kingfisher Towers

BANGALORE: HDFC Bank is lending Rs 150 crore to construct the luxurious Kingfisher Towers in Bangalore, which is jointly promoted by Vijay Mallya’s UB Group and Prestige Estates Projects, a local builder.

The project, expected to be completed by 2013, is the costliest in the Bangalore market.

“We have a line of credit with banks which could be used for this or other projects. This is more like a fall back option in case payments from customers are delayed, or if pace of construction picks up, which will require quick money,” says Irfan Razack, CMD of the company, which holds a 45% share in the Rs 1,300-crore luxury housing project.

According to a source, who did not want to be named, Prestige has already sold its share of the apartments in the building while UB is still holding on to the inventory to sell them at a higher price point later.

While the Bangalore-based real estate firm has managed to sell the apartments that it owns in Kingfisher Towers at an average price of Rs 20,000 a sq ft, Vijay Mallya is holding on to the inventory as he looks for higher prices of up to Rs 30,000 a sq ft for the same property.

Kingfisher Towers has around 82 apartments split in three blocks, but only 75 of the apartments are for sale. Each of these apartments is spread over 8,000 sq ft. The property is built on four acres of land, on which stood a palatial bungalow owned by Vijay Mallya.

This project is the most expensive in Bangalore with apartments costing upwards of Rs 20 crore. The residential tower is expected to have a rooftop helipad, four floors of parking space, a 6,000 sq ft clubhouse and garden, a swimming pool on the 10th floor and a badminton court on the 15th.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/real-estate/news-/hdfc-bank-to-lend-rs-150-crore-for-kingfisher-towers/articleshow/12529714.cms

Realty in Bangalore to see 25 per cent growth

The real estate sector in Bangalore has grown to a large extent in the past one year. In the year ahead, the city’s realty is expected to grow by 25 per cent, estimates the Karnataka Chapter of the Consortium of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI).

“We are expecting the realty to grow by 25 per cent in the coming year. Last year too we have witnessed a similar growth,” said Sushil Mantri, President, CREDAI Karnataka.

As per studies conducted last year, the city is likely to absorb about 7.1 million sq ft of office space against a supply of 7 million sq ft. While demand for office and commercial sales in the city saw a rise, residential sales remained slow.
Experts said that the city witnessed a great strength in high street leasing and rent, and capital value has increased nominally in a few sub-markets. Also, there was a rise in rental value as demand by retailers remained strong.

With commercial office space developers offering favourable options, predictions for 2012 are that several IT companies in the city will look at pre-leasing office space.

However, analysts opine that office space supply will outweigh demand.
“FDI in multibrand real estate, is expected to catalyse a lot of demand from international retailers. International luxury brands will restrict their growth plans to Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore,” states a projected report by Jones Lang LaSalle India, Realty Intelligence firm.

The report states that the mid-end and affordable housing segments will record healthy appreciation in capital value in short term from a low base.

Source: http://www.track2realty.com/realty-in-bangalore-to-see-25-percent-growth

Unitech eyes Rs 250 cr sales realisation from Bangalore project

NEW DELHI: Real estate major Unitech on Monday said it eyes a sales realisation of about Rs 250 crore over two years from the luxury housing project in Bangalore.

The company announced the launch of its luxury villas project ‘Aranya’. It plans to develop 68 villas in the 15-acre project. The villas sizes range from 4,319-7,000 sq ft.

“The project is in line with the rising demand for the luxury living propositions in Bangalore… We expect to generate sales booking of Rs 250 crore from the project over two years,” Unitech President V K Chadha said in a statement.

Unitech’s consolidated net profit stood at Rs 55.22 crore for the third quarter ended December, while net sales was Rs 513.90 crore.

The company’s net debt reduced by Rs 383.59 crore in the first nine months of the current fiscal and stood at Rs 5,190.26 crore as on December 31, 2011.

In the first nine months of this fiscal, Unitech sold 5.4 million sq ft for a sales value of Rs 3,029 crore, while it launched projects totalling 7.17 million sq ft of area