Blackstone buys retail space in Seawoods Grand Central worth Rs. 1450 cr

In its second realty deal this year, Blackstone Group Lp is likely to buy a million sq.ft of retail space in the 40-acre transit oriented project which is being developed by L&T Realty in Navi Mumbai around Seawoods Darave railway station. According to sources, Blackstone has in-principle agreed to buy the retail portion of Seawoods Grand Central for Rs. 1,450 crore. L&T Realty also has 4 million sq.ft of commercial office space coming up as part of this massive 40-acre project.

Blackstone is currently conducting due diligence of the project, said the sources cited above. “It will take some time before the transaction to conclude,” the source added.

”with relaxation in FDI (foreign direct investment) norms, Global funds pick up well-positioned malls that promise a steady return of interest on retail assets,” Shashank Jain, partner (transaction services) at consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers India said.

L&T Realty CEO Shrikant Joshi said that as a policy, the company doesn’t plan to run malls and hence wants to sell them to investors.  Nevertheless, it will continue to build them in its projects.  “In Seawoods, we are in talks with several investor partners, but we want someone who will be a creditable successor,” he added.

Blackstone, which has largely invested in buying out office spaces in the country hitherto, is looking at retail shopping assets and hotel projects now.