After the slowdown in demand for residences, developers and international property consultants have realised that 'integrated townships' are the next trend across the country. Many realty majors are focusing on the development of integrated townships. Even as DLF Ltd is planning to develop 4,840-unit ‘Dankuni’ township in Kolkata, the Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) is developing 9,334-unit 'Rajarhat' township in the periphery of Kolkata. Emaar Group is planning to develop 520-unit 'Boulder Hills' township in Hyderabad. Parsvanath also is planning to develop 2,500-unit township in Chennai. This is according to a recent market overview done by Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj.

Real Estate Bank India (REBI) is planning to develop 3,000 franchisees across the country, with about 48 outlets in West Bengal in the next few years. Across the eastern region, REBI would open 200 stores, said Mr. Hemant Sikaria, regional head of REBI. "India's realty segment is the only industry with a track record of 30-35 per cent growth per year in terms of investment. With the realty sector booming in east, we are confident that to be able to provide solutions to all real estate requirements of the people here," Mr. Sikaria added.

Real estate developers, the Salarpuria Group is planning to invest about Rs 3,000 crore in 12-14 projects across the country. These projects will be a mix of residential, commercial, retail and hospitality located in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Kochi, Jaipur, Kolkata and Visakhapatnam. About 13 million sq ft are under construction currently, said Mr Mahesh Khaitan, Director, Salarpuria Group.

India will get among its first tallest buildings. The tower, to be built in Kolkata, will rise to a height equivalent to 83 storeys. "We will actually construct 54 floors, but at 250 m, it will be easily be the tallest commercial structure in the country, its height corresponding to an 83-storey tower," says Mr. A.N. Shroff, the leader of the consortium Diamond Group that is developing the building. The project is coming up on the vacant land that was once the proposed site for Grand Hyatt. The 54-storey structure will tower over the Chowringhee skyline, housing 10 levels of car parking at the base and a helipad on top. "The Chowringhee building will have many firsts, like a 4.2 m floor-to-ceiling height, a grand entrance lobby 42ft high, a sky garden on the 29th level, restaurants on the 50th and 51st floors and three levels of viewing galleries above that," said Mr. Vinoo Chadha, principal architect for the project. The cost land for the proposed building is Rs 432 crore, construction is estimated to cross Rs 200 crore.

Destined to be a dazzling milestone in India's housing complexes, the country's first solar housing project was inaugurated in Kolkata on July 8. Called 'Rabi Rashmi Abasan,' the complex is the brainchild of West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency and designed, engineered and managed by Bengal DCL, a joint venture of West Bengal Housing Board & Development Consultants Ltd. It stands on a plot of 1.76 acres in New Town, Kolkata. The construction was undertaken by Mackintosh Burn.
WBREDA Director, Gon Chaudhury, who has spent years of research and experimentation working on this green mission, explains his pet project: "The idea was conceived when I visited Europe and studied eco-friendly buildings. The Kolkata housing complex's every owner will not only have his land, but also generate his own power for domestic use as well as for feeding the grid." The name 'Rabi Rashmi' means sun rays, and the project comprises 25 plush bungalows priced at Rs 43 lakh to Rs 45 lakh each for a built-up space of 1,600 sq. ft. The land area for each house is 2,150 sq. ft. Chowdhury added, "We are extremely pleased to explore the benefits of solar architecture with Conergy in the landmark 'Rabi Rashmi' housing complex, which will inspire other green initiatives and projects in India." The solar PV (photo voltaic) technology has a widespread application and is used to convert solar rays into electricity in these houses. The application of building integrated photovoltaic technology is used effectively in the project. The adoption of solar passive architecture features makes a house cool during summer. With passive concepts, the house will get cool breeze from south though water bodies. It also ensures natural light and better air circulation inside the house. In 'Rabi Rashmi Abasan,' each house will generate 2 kW power from solar tiles on the roof for its own consumption and feed the surplus into the grid. The owner will also get power from the grid as and when necessary. The utility will pay the house owner and vice-versa on net monthly metering. The benefits of energy banking will also be available to the owners. Each house will have solar water heaters, solar signage and area lighting by solar streetlights.

Realty firms seem to have lost their appetite for properties in Kolkata, where developers such as Emaar MGF Land Ltd and DLF Ltd were fighting to secure plots for building luxury hotels. For the first time, a tender to lease out a prime 10-acre plot on the western fringes of the city is being scrapped because there was only one bidder. The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) had invited bids for two more properties, but the response to each was poor. KMDA officials had claimed that developers such as Emaar MGF and DLF had enquired about the properties, but none of them bid even for the 10-acre plot, which was to be leased for building a five-star hotel. Less than a year ago, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) had set a new benchmark by buying a five-acre property on the eastern fringes of Kolkata for Rs276.20 crore, or Rs55.24 crore an acre. LIC has since announced it would build 50-storey towers on the plot.A KMDA official, who didn’t want to be named, confirmed that the tender for the 10-acre plot would be cancelled, but he wasn’t sure what would be done with the bids for the other two plots— one measuring five acres and the other 2.7 acres. “The bids aren’t attractive, but we haven’t decided yet,” he added.

Red Fort Capital, a leading international real estate private equity fund firm, has signed partnership deal with Godrej Properties Limited, one of the leading real estate development companies. The deal will mark Red Fort Capital’s entry in the Kolkata real estate market.The company has taken a 49% stake in an IT Park project named “Godrej Genesis”. The Godrej Genesis project is an IT Park located in the heart of Kolkata’s Salt Lake Sector V, situated between the international airport and the city center. The project, which will be developed over a span of three years, expects to generate sales of over Rs 750 crore. Red Fort Capital manages three active funds under its aegis including an offshore and a domestic fund for Indian real estate market, as well as a hedge fund for listed Indian entities. The company is already in talks with some of its existing investors for floating a new fund, which would invest in infrastructure projects in the country.

Yatra Capital, a Jersey-based private equity firm, will invest 4.4 million euros in an upcoming Taj hotel in Calcutta. Yatra Capital will acquire a 40 per cent stake in Jalan Intercontinental Hotels Private Limited, the company which is building the 200-room property. The hotel will be managed by Indian Hotels Limited under the Taj Gateway brand. Built over a 1.9-acre plot, the hotel will be located at the junction of the Rashbehari Connector and EM Bypass. The hotel will cater to the needs of IT and ITeS companies located in Sector V of Salt Lake, Rajarhat and New Town.“The investment reiterates Yatra’s confidence in Calcutta as a business destination. I am happy to note that a long-term agreement has been signed with Taj Hotels for operating the hotel,” said Nigel Broomfield, chairman of Yatra Capital Limited. This is Yatra’s third investment in the city after it invested around 20 million euros in Riverbank Holdings and another 16.75 million euros in a joint venture with Forum Park for an IT special economic zone.Aditya Jalan, managing director of Jalan Intercontinental Hotels Private Limited, said, “We are delighted to partner Yatra Capital in this milestone development. We are sure the project will benefit enormously from the international experience that Yatra brings through its board of directors and Saffron, its adviser for investment in India.”At present, there are around 1,500 rooms available in the premium segment in Calcutta. Occupancy levels have increased at an average rate of 15-18 per cent over the last few years. The company has also signed an agreement with Indian Hotels for long-term management and technical assistance.

The real-estate market in Kolkata has been largely unaffected by the soaring inflation and the US economic crisis. While the sales and price figures in other metros and cities have shown signs of cooling down, the prices in Kolkata have increased by 7-10 per cent over the last four months. The city has managed to avoid a crisis because prices here had never reached ‘unrealistic’ proportions. Kolkata’s real-estate market is also relatively stabilized since the number of speculative investors here is much less compared with end-users.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), which is among the largest property owners in India, is planning to acquire land worth Rs 2,000 crore this year to develop commercial and residential complexes. This will be in addition to the Rs 1,100 crore it spent last year for purchasing lands across the country. The public sector insurance giant has identified Kolkata, Jaipur, Agra, Vishakhapatnam and Bangalore as possible cities where it may acquire land and develop it. The insurer is next only to Indian Railways in terms of property ownership in the country and, at present, it holds 1,708 properties in the country which are estimated to be worth around Rs 20,000 crore.

The city is poised to get what probably is its first green housing complex, to be developed by real estate major Siddha Group, with guidance from a state government agency. The project, Xanadu, will have 'energy efficient equipment', as suggested by the West Bengal Green Energy Development Corp, a government enterprise set up to promote environment-friendly projects. The project will be unique in a sense that it will install green energy equipment in the building following the guidelines of the Green Energy Corp. WBGEDCL will provide all technical assistance. With the completion of Xanadu, the housing sector could see a major shift towards energy conserving clean technology. It will be energy efficient, nature-friendly and using energy-saving passive and active solar devices. There will be facilities like rainwater harvesting, solar lighting and solar water heating system in the project.

Rosedale Garden is tailor made to suit the lifestyle of NRIs. Rosedale is a Garden Apartment Complex in a modern planned city, a future of Kolkata. Spread over 16 acres of prime real estate in Newtown, Rajarhat, Kolkata, Rosedale Garden is probably the largest project of its kind providing all facilities and amenities that are enjoyed in the West. It is not a 'sub-zero temperature in a blast furnace'; outside of Rosedale Complex is not-congested, no pollution. Newtown is open and airy with greeneries, lakes; far from noise and pollution, dust and smoke. Rosedale Garden will provide the cosmopolitan lifestyle with rural flavors. It is near to Airport, Saltlake City Center. You reach Rabindra Sadan faster from Rosedale Garden than Southern part of present Kolkata. The overwhelming responses from NRIs, from all corners the globe, have motivated Rosedale Garden is actively pursuing to develop a 2nd NRI Complex for Residential and Commercial purposes.

Kolkata-based real estate developer Salarpuria Group will execute projects worth Rs 1,000 crore in West Bengal by 2010. The expansion plans includes setting up a Novotel Hotel, promoted by international hospitality major, Accor Group, at Rajarhat. The investment in the project would be close to Rs 200 crore. Besides this, other major investments of the company includes two IT special economic zones (SEZs) at Bantala 20km south-east of Kolkata, and Kalyani in Nadia district, 40km north-west of Kolkata. The company has already received in-principle nod for the SEZ projects from the Central government. The SEZ in Kalyani would be spread over 250 acre. The construction for the recent Rs 1000 crore project would start within a year. The project is scheduled to be over by the next three to five years and possesses the potential to generate sales worth $3 billion Salarpuria To Develop Projects Worth Rs 1000 Crores

Kolkata property market has been growing by leaps and bounds and is today one of the most lucrative investment destinations in the state. The city has attracted around 25,000 crore in real estate over the past two years. Recently, I got my hands on the news which says Realty major from Singapore is setting up luxury condos in New Town, Kolkata, complete with wi-fi connectivity, an aroma garden, an elevated green podium to camouflage the underground parking lot and a mini cricket field. Elita Garden Vista, a 1,278-unit complex, is being developed on a 25-acre land parcel in Action Area III of the Rajarhat Township by Keppel Land Limited, the property arm of the Keppel Group, one of Singapore’s multinational behemoths with core businesses in offshore and marine infrastructure and property. Keppel Land’s Indian partners in the project — the first in the city being developed by Singapore realty major — are the Jatia Group and the Puravankara Group. It’s set to be ready by end-2011.The group also plan to do at least three more projects in India, both in the residential and retail/commercial segments in the next five years. The condos will be housed in 15 towers, with the tallest going up to 30 storeys. Besides recreational amenities like a central swimming pool, a clubhouse, a gymnasium and a children’s playground, the complex will have features designed to suit the needs of IT professionals. Calcutta being amongst the most significant IT growth centers in India after Bangalore and Hyderabad and our project, with an average unit price of around Rs 50 lakh, has been created to facilitate the lifestyle of the executives in the new-age service sectors. This project will provide a huge fillip to Calcutta’s property market. Improvements in the city will pave way for more investments and make the investors feel confident about selling their real estate projects. Kolkata possesses an untouched potential and is likely to see an astronomical growth of 25-30 per cent in very near future.

Red Fort Capital, an international private equity fund, is planning to invest Rs 3,500 crore in the country’s real estate sector during the next one year. The money will be invested in real estate projects — commercial, residential and retail — as well as land acquisitions. It has also launched a domestic fund few weeks back through which it plans to raise Rs 1,000 crore. The proceeds would be deployed into non-foreign direct investment projects. Construction has begun for Prestige’s project in Bangalore, Indu project in Hyderabad, Chennai and NCR, Delhi. The company is looking at property investments in about 15 other cities that have high income and employment growth and cheaper land. The company will target the middle income groups, earning between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 11 lakh per annum. Red Fort will develop the low-cost houses in partnership with the Bangalore-based Prestige Group and Hyderabad-based Indu Project and will have around 40-80 per cent stake in the projects. Red Fort is in the final stages of discussion for investing in budget hotel chains. It plans to capitalize on its existing land bank of over 1,000 acres pan India. It has land in North Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi.

Kolkata’s realty market is growing. The real estate market of Kolkata is comparable to tier-II cities like Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune and is even ahead of these in terms of pricing of some of the recent deals. The IT realty market is hotting up too. Estimates suggest that about 120 lakh sq.ft. of new plug-and-play IT infrastructure will come up in Kolkata in the near future.TCG Real Estate, a part of The Chatterjee Group promoted by Purnendu Chatterjee, is planning to take up an IT park project at Sector V, near the Salt Lake area, with an investment of around Rs 250 crore. The entire project, would be spread over 11 lakh square feet and split in two phases, and is slated to be completed by 2012. TCG was also exploring the possibility of executing similar projects in places like Siliguri and Rajarhat. The project, to be launched in the latter half of the year, would be funded through internal accruals. In the first phase of the project, around 6 lakh square feet area would be developed, with ground floor dedicated to retail space. TCG Real Estate, which has a presence in about eight cities across India, has a tie-up with the US$ 25 billion US-based Vornado Realty Trust for partnering its large format projects like special economic zones (SEZs). Biotech Park park in Pune, World Trade Centre in Delhi and Bengal Intelligent Park in Sector V, near Kolkata, are some of the major projects of TCG. The company has a landbank with capacity to develop US$11.1 million sq feet of projects.

With an upsurge in realty prices in metro and talent crunch, the $11 billion Indian BPO industry is now thinking to move to the Tier II cities in the country. Many feel that movement to lower-cost cities within India is likely to result in additional 15-30% reduction in operating cost despite lower employability and higher management costs.

Kolkotta is known as the city of joy. The Howrah Bridge, a very rich cultural heritage, Book shops, coffee houses and fish fry…the city has a unique ‘old world’ charm of its own. With India taking huge steps forward, this metro city is keeping up in terms of financial and realty boom.

One of many upcoming projects is Greenwood Elements – a project of Bengal Shrachi Housing Development Ltd. With a green area spread across five acres in New Town Rajarhat, the Greenwood Elements is a nice blend of simple structural module and natural elements. Designed by well known architect – Ajoy Choudhury, the Greenwood Elements boasts of 50% of the total area being covered with extensive landscape greenery.

The six towers of the project encircle a central court which houses a club, shops and a swimming pool on podium level. From mirror finished vitrified tiles in rooms to ceramic tiles on kitchen floor, from pile foundation to glazed aluminum windows – each and every aspect of modern day living are taken care of. Apartments available are 3BHK, 3BHK+study and 4BHK Duplex, according to individual needs.

This outstanding project is slated to complete by December 2010. Any enquiry about the project, its booking or floor plan can be done on the Axiom Estates website.