When the six-storied Copia Corporate Suite in New Delhi's Jasola area is ready by March next year, its promoters, Realtech Projects, will showcase some niche add-ons to make the place stand out among the numerous other corporate suites being constructed in the city.
From an automatic car-wash bay to help executives drive out in gleaming cars without wasting much time to a special chauffeur lounge where drivers can rest, Realtech is leaving no stone unturned to tap major companies.
There will be separate lift lobbies for services and executives, a swimming pool, a well-equipped gym including a terrace caféteria and an atrium and a lounge area where meetings can take place in strict confidentiality.
There is a valid reason why Realtech is being so particular in these details. As Rajeev Behl, director and one of the three promoters of Realtech chips in, "The quality of construction is almost the same with every builder, it's the add-ons that create a landmark."
That seems to be the mantra of Realtech, a company that is yet to complete its financial year, having started in September 2005, but which boasts prized projects including the completion of two corporate suites, a business suite and a residential complex in New Delhi and the NCR, besides a mall in Chandigarh that's in the pipeline.
How has Realtech managed so much in such little time? "A combined experience of almost 50 years of the three promoters in the realty business gives us the edge," states Realtech's CEO Rohit Malhotra.
The experience amounts to Pankaj Dayal's days as CEO with NAI Collaborators, Rajeev Behl's know-how in bulk space buying, leasing and underwriting, and Yogesh Gupta's expertise in residential turnkey construction.
Dayal claims that the group's forte will eventually be commercial projects. He states the latest trend according to Ernst and Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that reveal, "By 2020, commercial space demand would be around 50 million sq ft in India. Currently there is a huge short supply."
How will it fight the competition? "By catering to a niche category in good locations and accompanying it with aggressive marketing," adds Dayal.
On the face of it, Realtech's projects are regular projects, similar to those most developers carry, but it is their business model and marketing strategies that cater specifically to high-end users that gives them an edge.
Realtech is clear that no retail will be allowed in corporate suites and that malls designed by Realtech will not allow offices.
"No nuisance value for the corporate environment," as Behl puts it. Only corporate offices ready to take a minimum of 3,000 sq ft of floor space worth Rs 4-5 crore (Rs 40-50 million) would be given space. "Even if the sales are slow," clarifies Behl, "I am not worried as I am looking for 40 good corporates, not 400."
The group does not want to dilute its stake in the commercial projects. For this, almost 60-65 per cent of the commercial buildings would be given on a lease model with only 20-30 per cent going up for sales.
"We want to retain the properties for control and management so that the quality of structure and its occupants is maintained," informs Behl. There's another clause that doesn't allow clients to sub-let or sell any shop.
For a residential project in Faridabad that will also house a lake, a clause prevents transfer or re-sale of property till a certain period. "We would prefer end users than investors," he adds.
Realtech sounds choosy about its projects and clients occupying space in any of its properties in a bid to encourage people from a similar economic strata to live together. The group pegs a figure of being a Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) realty group in the next two years.
With nearly 6-7 more projects packed within the next three months, Behl discloses, the company is also building an IT park in Sohna and is seeking permission to create a helipad on the building's roof.
Realtech's projects sound swish. Whether the company will manage to live up to these promises will be clear only next year.
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