Indian hotel chains eye branded residences business
legacy Indian hotel companies are warming up to the idea of setting up branded residences, a space that has largely been dominated by international hotel chains such as Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton and Grand Hyatt.
Despite sluggish sales of luxury homes, a host of branded residences have come up in the past 3-4 years. Besides the popular Trump Towers and Four Seasons Residences, global fashion houses, including Versace, Armani and Swarovski, have also collaborated with Indian developers to build luxury homes.
For branded residences, fashion houses or hospitality chains lend their brands to a luxury housing project and provide management services for a fee.
Kolkata-based conglomerate ITC Ltd, which operates hotel chains under the ITC brand, is launching its first branded residences at Colombo in Sri Lanka. The residential project comprising 132 luxury apartments is to come up at Galle Face area, said one person in the know. The firm has roped in global luxury brokerage firm Sotheby’s International to sell the project, with each unit priced at $1.2 million.
Amit Goyal, CEO, India Sotheby’s International Realty, confirmed the development. The project will target the growing wealthy non-resident Indian (NRI) community in the island country.
Indian Hotels Company Ltd, or the Taj group, and EIH Ltd, which runs Oberoi and Trident hotel chains, also aim to enter the branded residences segment. While the Taj group is planning to set up its first branded residences at Colombo in partnership with Kathmandu-based conglomerate Chaudhary Group, the Oberoi group is in talks to launch projects in Bengaluru and Mumbai, said one person, requesting anonymity. Email queries to Oberoi and ITC spokespersons remained unanswered till the time of going to press.
Leela Hotel Ventures Ltd is developing four luxury projects across Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. While its first branded housing project in partnership with real estate firm Bhartiya City is nearing completion, it has signed up with Prestige Group to build Leela Residences in Bengaluru. Besides, it is also building Leela Blu Residences in Mumbai with Indiabulls Real Estate, and Leela Skylark with Raheja Developers Ltd in the Delhi-NCR region.
“There is increased interest by Indian hotel companies towards branded residences. This is a logical extension as an asset class,” said Mandeep Lamba, managing director, hotels and hospitality group, at real estate advisory JLL India.
MUMBAI:Large