Latest Property News on 'Chennai'

Big developers Partner with Local Developers to Complete Projects Quickly

Hyderabad-based PBEL Property Development (India) Ltd has a new strategy to break into unfamiliar markets: partner with local developers to complete projects quickly. The realty firm wants to divide its 42 acres on Old Mahabalipuram Road off Chennai into four or five portions, each of which will be handed over to local developers for building residential apartments. “We don’t know much about the Chennai market and think it’s a good idea to bring in people who have the knowledge,” said Anand Reddy, director of PBEL Property, which has a project pipeline mostly in southern India. “Of course, we will keep a portion of the land which we’ll develop ourselves.”

A number of large developers are similarly forming joint ventures (JVs) or special purpose vehicles with smaller, local developers for specific projects on a revenue-sharing model. “We will see more developers getting into such JVs depending on what the local partner brings to the table,” said a senior research analyst at First Global Securities Ltd, who didn’t want to be named. “It could be land, local domain knowledge or even good building capacity.” Mumbai-based developer Sunil Mantri Realty Ltd, for instance, prefers local partners with the potential to speed up projects by procuring building approvals and helping in the conversion of land status quickly—often, the most time-consuming aspects of development. Read More »

Mahindra Lifespace to Set up Business Parks in Chennai and Pune

Mahindra Lifespaces Developers Ltd is in the process of acquiring around 4,000 acres in Chennai and Pune, where it intends to set up two more business parks, a top official said late on Monday. The company is acquiring around 1,000 acres of land in Chennai and around 3,000 acres in Pune, its Managing Director and Chief Executive, Anita Arjundas, told Reuters in an interview. Arjundas declined to comment on the cost for land acquisition. The firm, part of the diversified Mahindra Group, specialises in both the residential housing and commercial development segments. A business park is a township with office spaces.

It already has two business parks of about 4,000 acres under its commercial segment. The parks are operated under the brand Mahindra World City’, at Chennai and Jaipur. “Land procurement is underway, so once we are done with a significant part of it, we will start development,” she said. She did not provide a timeframe for completion of the business parks. Mahindra Lifespace is also looking to tap the recovering residential housing market by launching new projects in two tier-1 cities, she said, but did not elaborate. It focuses on the mid market and premium residential customer segments. Read More »

Emaar MGF Expands its Operations in Chennai

Emaar MGF, a joint venture between Emaar of Dubai and MGF of India and a leading real estate development company, expanded its presence in Chennai with the launch of The Avenues on Tuesday. Wilson Mathews, Head, Sales (South), Emaar MGF, said ‘The Avenues’ was part of Esplanade, one of the largest residential projects (14 acres) at Tondiarpet in north Chennai. The ultra-modern 2 and 3 bedroom apartments ranging from 1,424 sq. ft to 1,715 sq. ft. at Esplanade (phase I) are nearing completion. Out of 16 towers in phase I, 12 are nearing completion and 300 apartments are being handed over. Work is in progress in the remaining four towers.

Mr. Mathews said there was compelling market demand for apartments in the mid-segment residential market. The Avenues (phase II of Esplanade) was targeted at the growing mid-segment market with a price tag of Rs. 29 lakh a unit. The apartments comprise six towers and 200 plus apartments with two and three bedrooms, range from 975 sq. ft to 1,450 sq. ft. He said The Avenues was the only project in north Chennai that has a club house of about 6,000 sq. ft. with a gym, swimming pool and other facilities. It was scheduled to be completed by 2012.

Builder Unveils Chennai’s Costliest Apartment Project

A city-based builder is all set to promote Chennai’s costliest apartment project, where each flat will be priced at Rs 8 crore and have a foyer studded with diamonds, precious stones and pearls. Christened ‘The Art’, the project derives its theme from the cubist paintings of the legendary Pablo Picasso. A limited-edition super luxury residential complex, it is being promoted by Vijay Shanthi Builders on Kothari Road in Nungambakkam.

The previous record for the most expensive residential apartment in the city was one promoted by Kgeyes developers in the posh Poes Garden at Rs 7.46 crore per unit in 2007. PepsiCo CEO Indira Nooyi had bought one of the four flats in the project, located in the area where AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa and actor Rajnikanth live. The latest project has an opulent style, unusual even by the standards of high-end apartments. The marble floor of the foyer in every flat will be engraved with a peacock, studded with precious stones. Suresh Kumar, MD of Vijay Shanthi group, told TOI, “Our aim is to create homes that are unique, luxurious and provide value for money. It is meant only for those who want to make a statement of luxury in impeccable style.” Read More »

Chennai Corp Loses Rs 150 Cr over Leased Properties

This would rank as the biggest real estate giveaway of them all. The cash-strapped Chennai Corporation, which struggles to even pay arrears to its staff, has lost more than Rs 150 crore in revenue on its leased properties over two decades. Land and properties adding up to about 1.5 lakh sq ft at prime locations such as Wall Tax Road, Naval Hospital Road, Bazaar Road, Sundaram Pillai Street, Basin Bridge Road, Veerapachai Street, Aziz Mulk Road and Harris Road have been occupied by lessees without paying rent since 1985. These buildings were leased out before Independence and many of the lease agreements expired in 1985. In many cases, the corporation has been unable to trace the lease agreement papers.

The few lease documents available with the corporation have faded. The civic body realised the magnitude of the problem recently when officials began scanning the documents, according to corporation commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni. “On examining the old documents in the department, we found that many of the lease agreements were not renewed. Efforts are on to reclaim those properties,” he said. As per the records, the local body has 545 such properties across the city, measuring between 30 sq ft and 2,400 sq ft leased out to private individuals to run businesses.

Chennai Realtors Using Illegal Guns

The recent shooting of ship captain Ilangovan and his wife Ramani has brought into focus the fact that a number of Chennai-based realtors are procuring guns from Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and using them only to threaten others during land deals. The gun that was used on the couple was a country-made pistol and that is probably what saved Vasanthi, their daughter-in-law, when the gunman Rajan turned the pistol on her. Police said country-made guns are not effective and often do not have sufficient range. “Regular guns have a firing range of 50 to 60 yards, but country-made guns have a range of less than 15 to 20 yards. Even, if a person targets the chest, the bullet pierces only the thighs or legs,” sources said. Chennai, or even Tamil Nadu, does not have a hub for manufacturing lethal country-made weapons, but the guns are being brought in from the north.

“In case of the Neelankarai shooting, the accused may have been standing on the extreme right of the room after shooting the couple. He aimed at Vasanthi, who was running away from him, and she was probably out of his range. That is the reason why she did not sustain grievous injuries,” a senior police officer said. “Chennai and Tamil Nadu is not known for manufacturing illegal arms due to the effective policing and intelligence network here, when compared to other states in India. Recently, the illegal manufacture of rocket launchers by Maoists from Andhra Pradesh was busted in Ambattur Industrial Estate,” another senior police officer said. Read More »

I-T Raids Offices of Chennai’s Leading Builders

Income tax officials on Thursday carried out raids at the offices of two leading builders in Chennai at 25 locations, in and outside Tamil Nadu. They said they detected tax evasion to the tune of Rs 22 crore. Special teams raided the office and residential premises of Jain Builders and VGN Homes and seized several documents and Rs 1.5 crore of unaccounted cash, officials said. “We have got evidence of tax evasion to the tune of Rs 22 crore by these two groups,” a senior income tax official said.

The raids were carried out in the residential and business premises of these two groups in Chennai, Coimbatore, Vellore, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kochi, Ajmer and Pali in Rajasthan. More than 200 officials were deployed in the search, seizure and survey operations. Sources said the income tax investigation department received information of alleged tax evation and it carried out the raids till late in the evening. Several bank lockers of the two companies were sealed. A detailed examination of the lockers will be carried out in the coming days. Read More »

CMDA Puts MBS on Fast Track in Chennai

Hot on the heels of hastening the planning permission mechanism for small buildings, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority has initiated steps to put the approval process for multistoreyed buildings (MSB) also on fast track in the Chennai metropolitan area. Only recently, the regulatory agency had done away with the necessity to obtain seven out of 13 no-objection certificates (NOCs) from various government agencies, hitherto mandatory for issuing the plan approval for MSBs. It was CMDA that used to communicate with agencies like the Fire and Rescue Services and the Chennai Metrowater Supply and Sewerage Board for obtaining NOCs after the builder had submitted the application and detailed plan for clearance. Going one step forward, CMDA has now permitted builders themselves to apply for NOCs and submit them along with the detailed plan for the agency’s approval.

“Our objective is to speed up the approval procedure in every way possible. It takes a lot of time for our staff to communicate with other departments. On many occasions, delay in getting NOCs used to hold up issue of planning permission,” said a CMDA official. By allowing builders to apply and obtain NOCs, the official said, much of the delay could be avoided. “We have also introduced an 18-point checklist for builders, while applying for permission for MSBs. Hereafter, applications will get scrutinised in totality and deficiencies will be informed to the promoter through a single communication. Those who rectify deficiencies will be issued planning permission within 75 days. In case the builder fails to set right the inadequacies, the applications will be rejected and the promoter will have to start the whole process again. Earlier, our officials used to point out deficiencies piecemeal and files were kept pending for even two years,” said the official. Read More »

Sluggish Growth in Real Estate Coimbatore

Laxity in promoting Coimbatore as next IT destination after Chennai,time-consuming approval process, speculative land prices, conservative nature of people and lack of political clout are some of the key reasons identified behind the sluggish growth in real estate in the techcity. Speakers at a forum organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (Coimbatore) and Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM) here on Tuesday. However, believed the realty sector has enough potential and it is poised to pick up growth in about six months to one-year.

In his presentation on Coimbatore Edge, Ramesh Nair, managing director of JLLM, Chennai and Hyderabad regions said branding Coimbatore, as a single entity is very important for the growth of the city. Also, the city has the capabilities to be promoted as a highly promising alternative IT/ ITES and a biotech destination. “There is a huge potential for local, national as well as international developers in the real estate sector in Coimbatore,” Abhishek Kiran Gupta, Head – Research, JLLM said. He cited high literacy rate, more number of people graduating out of many renowned colleges and the city’s contribution to the growth in the per capita income of the country. Read More »

GMR Bags Rs 1,100cr Chennai Ring Road Project

Bangalore-based infrastructure major, GMR Infrastructure Limited, today bagged the Chennai Outer Ring Road project in Tamil Nadu from the state government for Rs 1,100 crore. This is the 8th road project and first state highway project bagged by the company’s Highways division since 2001. GMR-led consortium emerged as the lowest bidder in an international competitive bid for the 29.65 km Chennai Outer Ring Road project in Tamil Nadu from Vandalur to Nemilicheri section on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer on annuity basis. The letter of award is expected to be issued in the next few days, the company said in a press release.

Under this project, the company will get a concession for 20 years which includes a construction time of 30 months. Commenting on the project, O Bangaru Raju, managing director, GMR Highways Private Limited said, “This greenfield project will ensure smooth flow of traffic and will be constructedt with world class standards. Once completed this will give a tremendous boost to real estate development and trade and commerce in the region.” The GMR Group has so far completed six national highway projects as per schedule. Last month, a consortium led by GMR Infrastructure had won the 181 km, 6-laning of Hyderabad – Vijayawada highway project on a Build, Operate and Trasfer (Toll) basis thorugh international competitive bidding route from NHAI.