OYO Workspaces forays into Chennai with the launch of coworking brands – Innov8 and Workflo in the premium and budget categories. Incentivising start-ups, entrepreneurs and large companies to switch to managed workspaces, Innov8 offers seats starting at INR 9000 per month while Workflo offers seats starting at INR 5000 per month.
Track2Realty picks up Investment Magnet Cities of India through a comprehensive pan-India survey. The idea is to identify the top real estate destinations for the home buyers in the country.
I have taken up the challenging practice of evaluating the performance of the real estate companies through rating the respective brands. I often hear two very different voices about my professional existence within the sector. A group of developers, though minority community, not only take the learnings out of the rating & ranking but also endorse that the sector needs someone like me for the larger interests of the business.
Track2Realty has in its possession various exchanged mails between the buyers and the builders which not only defies any civilized business correspondence but is also in contravention with the law of the land. In one such mail with a delayed project for more than three years, the builder has the audacity to put on record that they would refund only with some deductions, forget about delayed penalty. Incidentally, the builder has accepted unaccounted cash with the said buyer and hence the buyer knows the real fallout of the exit.
Despite repeated attempts by Track2Realty, none of the developers with projects in the worst hit areas are ready to speak on camera. All of them are rather defiant that the construction ban is unfortunate disruptions and adversely affects the project timelines. The moot point nevertheless is can the builders in their collective consciousness shrug off the responsibility now? Do they wake up only when the NGT slaps the sector with construction ban? Can’t they switch to responsible urbanisation for future generations?These questions may not bother them but what they can’t afford to ignore is whether or not the housing sector in Delhi NCR would be paralysed if the city is not made worth breathing and worth living?” Unfortunately, there are more questions than what any of the stakeholders would like to answer with some honesty.
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While the commercial office sector will dominate Indian REIT listings for the next couple of years, retail and logistics REITs are sure to follow. However, Indian residential REITs remain at best a distant possibility. The draft Model Tenancy Act, 2019 will make rental housing a more attractive investment play – but for Indian residential REITs to succeed as they have in countries like Singapore and the US, rental yields on Indian housing need to significantly surpass the current 1-3%.
India’s commercial office segment has been the favourite asset class of institutional investors over the years. They have allocated USD 17.6 bn in the form of direct investments during 2005-2019. JLL research indicates that 294 mn sq. ft. of office stock would be eligible for REIT. This would translate to an additional investment opportunity of USD 35 bn in near term.
CapitaLand’s developments underway in India include 17.9 million sq ft of business park space in Bangalore, Chennai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Pune when completed. Another 7.2 million sq ft through forward purchases have been signed up and are under construction. This includes IT parks in Mumbai and Hyderabad, a seventh warehouse at Arshiya Free Trade Warehousing Zone, Panvel, near Navi Mumbai, and BlueRidge 3, an IT/ITES Special Economic Zone development in Hinjewadi Phase 1 in Pune. CapitaLand is also building up a logistics asset portfolio in India with 4.3 million sq ft planned for development.
Bengaluru maintains the top position in office space leasing, with a share of 30% in gross leasing during Jan-September 2019. Bengaluru recorded gross absorption of 12.1 million sq feet during Jan-September 2019, a 7% increase from same period last year, as occupiers continue to ramp up. IT-BPM and technology companies together accounted for 36%. Engineering and manufacturing sector’s leasing accounted for 18% share. Occupiers are preleasing space, and even taking up space in refurbished grade B buildings, due to tight vacancies in the market amidst healthy demand. The city’s vacancy stood at 8.8% at the end of Q3 2019.