Track2Realty: Omaxe and The Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) are bringing to the city of New Chandigarh (formerly Mullanpur), a five star hotel “Holiday Inn”. In an exclusive tie-up for a hotel in Omaxe’s integrated township Omaxe New Chandigarh, the company will undertake the construction of the 150-room hotel which will be managed by IHG.
Track2Realty: In a continuation of the company’s global growth plan, Cushman & Wakefield has entered into an agreement to acquire Singapore-based project management specialist company Project Solution Group (PSG).
Track2Realty: Cushman & Wakefield has expanded its Greater China operations into Taiwan by opening its first office in Taipei. It has appointed Jack Lin as the Managing Director of Taipei office. Prior to joining Cushman & Wakefield, Jack was the Managing Director of Taiwan Sotheby’s International Realty where he set up the luxury residential brokerage business. Together with Jack, Steven Chen was also appointed as the Director of Agency. Steven has more than 16 years’ experience in the real estate industry and was previously at Savills.
Track2Realty Exclusive: In India redevelopment is a huge market, where a developer has to work with cooperative housing societies. In Mumbai the process has already started due to additional FSI granted with the new development rules. The new DCR has made it easy for developers to negotiate with the societies because now they know what areas are sanctioned and there are no free areas.
Track2Realty Exclusive: The debate over promoter driven versus professional driven also brings to the table the fundamental question as to whether the entry of corporates into the business has changed the outlook of real estate in India. Have they brought about transparency and corporate governance?
Track2Realty Exclusive: There are some industry watchers who believe the entire genre of awards should not be dismissed just because there are few rotten eggs in the basket. Industry body NAREDCO thinks awards should be seen as recognition for the work done by the developer. “If a real estate company has earned an award, I think it should be respected by the industry and by the collective consciousness,” says Sunil Dahiya, Senior Vice President of NAREDCO.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Sachin Sandhir, Managing Director-South Asia of RICS and a vocal spokesperson of the realty reforms agrees there is an element of subjectivity and a fine line, when industry stakeholders organise awards – as it can lead to a conflict of interest. He, however, defends awards that are based on actual performance indicators and tangible evidence. Track2Realty probes for an insight—
Track2Realty Exclusive: In its quest for getting professional and have a facelift, the real estate hired professionals from very many other industries. When the going was good some of these companies even shifted management control at the operational level to these professionals. And just when it seemed that the Indian realty is fast maturing from promoter-driven to professional-driven, the downturn in the last few years exposed the sector to an altogether new reality. Track2Realty noted that churn out at the top of these realty companies has been very high and professional-driven management is not a panacea to the woes of the sector.
Track2Realty: New Delhi witnessed the entry of 13 prominent global retailers in 2012 as compared to 27 in Singapore and 51 in Hong Kong, according to CBRE’s new Retail Hotspots in Asia Pacific report. Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore top the list of cities for new retailer entries across Asia Pacific.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Asking for industry status, the sector doesn’t want elements of accountability that comes with the package. Quite opposed to the very idea of regulation, even after self-regulatory attempts didn’t work out, realty doesn’t evoke confidence at the policy level and often ends up being at loggerheads with the government. Track2Realty finds that though policy advocacy is very much desirable in the sector, it is yet so debatable that the stakeholders have failed to evolve a consensus over its issues and agenda.