The affordable housing segment, which gained significant traction over the last few years, may also take a hit by COVID-19. The outbreak will significantly affect affordable housing’s target audience. With limited income and unemployment fears, buyers of affordable housing may defer purchase decisions, leading to an estimated 1-2% rise in unsold stock within this segment in 2020.
It is in this backdrop that in a typical “Ravi Sinha Uncensored” tone I told a PR girl who called me for one such Press Release by one of the largest developers of Mumbai, “Listen! As a matter of principle I am not carrying any story on food distribution to construction workers. But wait! Please give my feedback to your client, “He or any other builder is not doing any charity; not worth beating its own trumpet. This is a national calamity and you are morally bound to do so. Such Press Releases only make you look really petty. You can weave this info into some other story once the dust settles and everything is normal. But glorifying humanitarian gesture at this point of time is at best Corona Tourism for Publicity which is highly deplorable.”
It is pertinent to note here that the builder has serious tussle with many of the home buyers at both his projects. Many a times the home buyers have been overtly refused the services with point blank justification that the Hawelia Facility Management is not obliged to entertain those who are unsatisfied buyers. However, in today’s pandemic it is not just unprofessional & unethical but also inhuman to not facilitate supply of day-to-day commodities when the builder’s commercial shops are not operational. Interestingly, Hawelia’s CSR initiative is called as Hawelia Humanity.
The said project, Hawelia Valenova Park, that was launched in 2013 at Tech Zone IV of Noida Extension is yet to be worth habitation, even after seven years. The builder, on his part, claims otherwise, even though the GNIDA (Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority) has only given it a conditional TOC (Temporary Occupancy Certificate).
Apart from the top cities, Tier 2 & 3 cities are also on the radar of many PE funds which see these cities actively driving retail going forward. At least 36% (nearly USD 1 bn) retail-focused funds went to cities like Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Nagpur and Mohali. In 2019, ANAROCK Capital was instrumental in Virtuous Retail South Asia (a JV between Singapore’s PE firm Xander Group and Dutch institutional investor APG) concluding a USD 100 mn deal with TRIL for two retail malls – one each in Nagpur and Amritsar.
I&L space take-up in 2019 was dominated by small-sized transactions (less than 50,000 sq. ft.), which held a share of about 42%. The share of medium-sized transactions (ranging between 50,000 sq. ft. and 1,00,000 sq. ft.) rose from 26% in 2018 to 30% in 2019. Large-sized deals (greater than 1,00,000 sq. ft.) accounted for 28% of the leasing activity during 2019. The number of large-sized deal closures in Hyderabad, in particular, doubled in 2019 as compared to 2018.
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.
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.
The three-day exclusive window scheduled from December 14th to December 16thDecember 2019 will feature free-to-listen knowledge sessions from SOBHA’s top leadership team, industry guests and patrons, helping home buyers take smart decisions. The bookings at this online Expo is live from November 23rd November, 2019 onwards on the link www.sobha.com/click2buy.
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.