Bottom Line: A new developer aspiring to establish its brand equity in the big league, Bhadra Legacy promises to be an ideal launchpad for the developer Bhadra Group. Stakes are pretty high for this boutique luxury property at the heart of Bengaluru. Track2Realty assigns the project provisional rating of Grade A.
Project: Bhadra Landmark MG Road (Bhadra Legacy)
Developer: Bhadra Group
Location: MG Road, Bangalore
Area: 33,188 sq feet
Saleable Units: 19 apartments
Track2Realty Rating: Provisional Grade A
To say that real estate is a game of deep pockets would be stating the obvious. Most of the leading brands are brands on the merit of their financial strengths and the sheer volume of millions of square feet being delivered. That is one of the reasons that many start-ups in the real estate, and even the mid-size developers have got into the rat race of brand building to be seen as a brand worth premium.
However, beyond the means spending and hype without project speaking on its merit have only resulted into brand disaster for most of such over-ambitious developers. Many of the luxury and super luxury launches by the new developers across the country are today stuck up. The developers don’t seem to be in a position to deliver what they over-promised with the media hype of a new brand; something that has also been used a marketing strategy to raise the capital.
In the global context, there are certain leading developers and there are certain boutique developers. The boutique developers have their own niche; they are not competing with the leading ones on volume or scale but have carved out their own brand statement with project differentiation.
Boutique real estate is all about competing in the market on quality game and not volume game. It has been a tried & tested model globally. However, for some strange reasons the developers in this part of the world have tried to grow as a leading brand since inception. This inherent desire to grow overnight has killed many hopes and dreams of not only the developers but also the buyers who invested into it.
The housing market review is by and large all about project features, amenities, specifications and last, but not the least, the brand equity of the developer. Well, I am a story teller and I always look for stories with my housing reviews. Where others can only see brick & mortar, I try to find living spaces, and more importantly, life into it.
While crossing through the MG Road of Bengaluru, I accidentally came across a project by Bhadra Landmark called Bhadra Legacy. MG Road, as we all know, is the Pin Code Number 1 of the city. It is the heart of the city and the first choice of the business travellers, celebrities of the city, NRIs & HNIs and the skylines of the place is dotted with the top-end hotels. The strategic importance of the place can’t be debated.
Any home buyer, in any city, in any other part of the world fancies his dream to live in a CBD (Central Business District) with Pin Code Number 1. However, that has not been the reason what prompted me to enter the project. After all, MG Road of Bengaluru traditionally has been home to the luxury properties.
What actually raised my interest level is the fact that quality boutique luxury developments have been few and far between in this part of the world. How could a new and aspiring brand have the courage and conviction to launch a project at MG Road? Is Bhadra Legacy an answer to what kind of boutique luxury the developers with limited resources and/or execution track record should aim for? Has the developer been conscious of creating a landmark flagship with a small but smart development before announcing his arrival into the big league?
There were many such questions as I entered into the project. I was pleasantly surprised to find a project by this new developer who has the intent to do quality work and evolve as a brand, but not overnight. He is conscious of the fact that this market is dotted with hotels the aspiration of an average high net-worth buyer is no less than living as luxurious as in the hotel.
Can this project fulfil this quest? As I move across the project I realise that the quality-conscious developer has been smart enough to understand this market dynamics. And hence, most of his project offerings are on the scale of boutique hotels. This is one project which many aspiring developers & brands should come and see. With a given constraint of small piece of land and with a given constraint of being a new player, he has done quite a decent job.
In terms of the price point the developer is selling at INR 15,000 per sq feet. With the apartment sizes ranging between 1689-1871 sq feet, the ticket price of an apartment here is between INR 2.83 crore to 3.3 crore. The best part is that the ground plus four floors smart luxury project has only 59 units and is hence ‘Exclusive’ property in the true sense of the term.
Keeping in mind the profile of the location and the limited number of inventory the project has taken off well and the social profile of the residents would be envy to the neighbourhood. While the larger developers are selling at a higher price in this location, this project has been extremely good in detailing. The developer knows his strengths and is focussed on the quality to the extent that he is following the backward integration model to the extent it is feasible.
At Track2Realty we have normally rated the projects which are much larger in size and have the luxury of brand associations. We normally weigh the potential of the ongoing project keeping in mind the track record of the brand. However, in the case of Bhadra Legacy the brand is just shaping up. Brand equity matters and brand legacy matters even more, but what matters the most is the project that the developer has to showcase to the market.
The first phase of the project with 19 units is getting ready to be delivered and it is to be seen to what extent the promise turns into performance. Till then Track2Realty assigns this project provisional rating of Grade A.
Ravi Sinha
@ravitrack2media
Track2Realty is an independent media group managed by a consortium of journalists. Starting as the first e-newspaper in the Indian real estate sector in 2011, the group has today evolved as a think-tank on the sector with specialized research reports and rating & ranking. We are editorially independent and free from commercial bias and/or influenced by investors or shareholders. Our editorial team has no clash of interest in practicing high quality journalism that is free, frank & fearless.
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