Torbit Spotlight 4 September 2022

Blackstone Plans USD 2.5 Billion IPO

US-based global PE fund, Blackstone is  preparing to launch a mega initial public offering of its Indian shopping mall portfolio. Blackstone’s Indian retail portfolio  which is held through its Nexus Malls unit , could be valued at about USD 2.5 billion. The Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) of Blackstone may well  be listed in 2023.

Nexus Malls operates 17 shopping centres across 13 Indian cities and has about 10 msf  of retail space. The group acquired its first  in Gujarat in 2015. More recently, it acquired 7 malls from Bangalore-headquartered Prestige Estates Projects Limited as part of a deal done in 2020.

Blackstone is the biggest commercial real estate owner in India. It backs Embassy Office Parks REIT – the first property trust to conduct an IPO in India that raised Rs 47.5 billion in 2019.

Sale of  Properties in 40 Gurgaon Societies Banned

The Department of Town & Country Planning (DTCP) has banned the purchase and sale of properties in 40 residential societies in Gurgaon for various violations pertaining to licensing norms. These developers did not deposit the outstanding dues on account of External Development Charges (EDC) and others. They also did not adhere to the terms and conditions of the license as well as the bilateral agreement.The license of many of these societies has not been renewed post-expiry. In  case of under-construction projects, the developers have been directed to stop the work. Tehsildars have been directed not to execute any sale deeds for the banned projects.

DTCP has identified over 4 dozen projects with similar violations. The town planning authority is planning to take action against the remaining errant developers.

DDA’s Mini Draw For Special Housing Scheme

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has planned a mini draw of lots this month for waitlisted applicants of its special housing scheme 2021 for flats in Dwarka, Narela, Rohini and Jasola among other places. As many as 2420 waitlisted people will be eligible for this draw.

Last December the DDA had launched the new special housing scheme with about 18000 flats on offer. All units were drawn from its old inventory. However, it went ahead with 9790 flats as it only got 12387 applicants who deposited the requisite registration fee. The land-owning agency had said that 9790 flats were put in the final draw and 5227 flats have been alloted to successful applicants. Most of the remaining flats would be part of the mini draw. The inventory consists of 205 HIG flats, 976 MIG flats, 11452  LIg flats and 5702 flats under the EWS/ Janta flats category. Around 8000 of these flats are in Narela and the remaining are spread around in areas like Rohini, Dwarka, Siraspur, Ramgarh and Lok Nayak Puram. The costliest flats in the mini draw are in  the HIG category in Jasola, costing rs 2.14 crore.

Smartworks Leases World’s Single Largest Flex Space Campus 

Smartworks, India’s leading enterprise-focussed workspace platform has added the world’s single largest flex space campus to its growing portfolio. It has taken on lease Vaishnavi Tech Park – a 7 lakh sq ft office space in Bangalore. In the process, Smartworks has broken its own record of leasing 6.4 lakh sq ft flex space last year in Pune.

Vaishnavi Tech Park, a Grade A multi- functional IT and Business Park , is stratigically located next to the IT corridor- Outer Ring Road (ORR) , has excellent connectivity and is close to well-known and reputable MNCs. The state of the art managed office space has several appealing amenities, including a sizeable  cafeteria, large parking area, food court, manicured gardens, sports arena and recreation facilities.

Smartworks’ workspaces feature cutting edge amenities, services and industry leading collaborations in a campus like setting. With a growing footprint of over 7 million sq ft , 38 centres and a presence in 11 cities, Smartworks leases large commercial office campuses to provide a premium experience at a cometitive price Last year the company leased over 3 million sq ft across Hyderabad, Bangalore, Noida and Pune. With three-fold increase in its revenues, Smartworks is aiming for Rs 1000 crore revenue this year.

Smarworks which is targeting 10 million sq ft footprint in FY 22-23, is hoping to make its 9000 plus seat centre spread over 7 lakh sq ft , operational in the final quarter of 2022.

SC Seeks States’ Reply on RERA Rules Deviations

The Supreme Court has asked all the state governments to reply to the deviations and variations pointed out in the implementation of of the Real Estate (Regulation and Devevelopment ) Act – RERA. Act 2016 and corresponding rules and laws in their jurisdiction. The apex court asked the states to submit their responses to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

The Sc bench while listing a batch of pleas seeking implementation  of a model builder-buyer agreement across  the country on September 16, said that it would pass directions on the next date of hearing.It said that both amicus and the ASG should prepare a model builder-buyer agreement based on the responses of the state governments, leaving some degree of flexibility to make some deviations as per the local needs.

Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay who has filed a lead petition in this regard , made a plea to the court to pass directions for the adoption of a one nation, one builder -buyer agreement across the country. The court’s attention was also drawn for passing directions for implementation of a format for a model builder-buyer agreement.

Adani Group Plans to Build 1000-Mw Data Centres

Adani Group firm Adani Connex is planning to build 1000- megawatt data centres- almost double the present  size of the total industry, over a period of 10 years.

According to Sanjay Bhutani, Senior Vice President and Head of Data Centre Business , the first seven data centres will come up in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Bengaluru and Pune. The present data centre capacity of the industry stands at 550 MW.

Lulu Group Plans 12 New Malls 

Riding high on the rising sentiment for shopping centres, UAE based Lulu Group, a leading player in mall development,  is embarking on a massive expansion plans in India. It has announced its plans to develop 12 new shopping malls across India over the next three years. The company which was recently in the spotlight for making the largest mall operational in Lucknow, will come up with its new malls in Calicut, Tirur, Perinthalmanna, Kottayam, Palakkad in Kerala, Varanasi, Prayagraj Ahmedabad in Uttar Pradesh , Noida and Gurgaon in the NCR, besides Hyderabad,  and Chennai.

Lulu Group presently has five operational malls in Kochi, Tiruvanthapuram, Thrissur, Bangalore and Lucknow . According to Shibu Philips, director of Lulu Group India, the newly planned  shopping mall developments  will be spread  over a total of  5 million sq ft area.