Blackstone group to invest Rs. 450 cr in commercial real estate

In a pure equity transaction, the world’s biggest private equity player in real estate, Blackstone Group, is at an advanced level of talks with Salarpuria Sattva Group to pump in nearly Rs 450 crore in its 30-acre commercial property coming up in Knowledge City, Hyderabad.

After being one of the most active buyers of commercial properties across the country last year, this will be the first real estate investment by the New York-based company in 2016. “Although the fund has by and large picked up ready and income-generating office real estate projects, this will be one of the few under-construction properties that Blackstone is investing in,” said sources familiar with the development.

The Knowledge City project in Hyderabad is a land parcel of about 200 acres that was sold to nearly 13 companies for Rs 2,000 crore by the Andhra Pradesh government in 2008. Salarpuria Sattva purchased 30 acres in the project for an estimated Rs 400 crore. The Salarpuria project is expected to have a total saleable commercial space of 6.5 million square feet to be developed in phases over the next five years.

10 Indian cities having affordable realty markets – JLL

In a recent report by JLL India, Navi Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune and Hyderabad have been listed in the 10 affordable property markets of India among other cities like Kochi, Ghaziabad, Jaipur, Nagpur, Surat and Coimbatore. According to the consultancy, these cities offer great low-budget properties between Rs. 30 – 50 lakh.

“These ten cities offer ample choices for investment in real estate with reasonable property price levels as well as opportunities for future capital appreciation and healthy returns,” says Anuj Puri, Chairman and Country Head, JLL India.

On Hyderabad, The report stated that after the end of political turbulence and prolonged slump, the real estate market in this city is all set for an upswing. Puri said Hyderabad is conceivably one of the most affordable cities among all tier 1 cities of India. Even the well-developed residential localities like Manikonda, Kukatpally, Miyapur and Sainikpuri present homes in the budget of Rs 30-50 lakh.

While Mumbai is increasingly becoming unreasonable for the common man, Navi Mumbai still presents affordable choices in similar price range. “The proposed SEZs at Dronagiri, Ulwe and Kalamboli, and the impending international airport at Panvel are expected to generate employment and drive demand for commercial as well as residential real estate,” Puri said.

About Pune, the report said that this Tier II city has documented substantial growth in the affordable housing segment over the last couple of years. These projects offer small 1-2 BHK flats with basic amenities and are located in the periphery of Pune.

“Well connected via metro and roads to the job markets of Delhi-NCR, Gaziabad mainly gratifies the mid-segment home buyers. With a very good supply of ready-to-move-in apartments offered by reputed developers in the affordable range of 30 – 50 lakh, the city is emerging as a residential neighbourhood of Delhi,” Jll said in the report.

On Kochi, the report observed that the residential real estate market of the city is dominated by affordable housing segment, which accounts to about 60 per cent of the total housing projects.