The Gurugram property, with an investment of more than Rs 5,600 crore, will be developed in phases with local developer Whiteland Corporation and will encompass an area of 6 million square feet, Trinh Quynh Phuong, vice president of mixed-use development for Asia Pacific at Marriott International, told ET.
“In terms of hotel development, our second biggest market in Asia Pacific is India, and that’s why we want to grow the branded residences market here as well. We believe this is the right time to enter India, as every project launched by a reputable developer is seeing a very good absorption rate,” Phuong said.
The company is also looking at Mumbai and Bengaluru to expand its branded residences portfolio.
Whiteland Corporation owns about 22 acres in Sector 103, Gurugram, along the Dwarka Expressway, where this project will be developed in two phases. In the first phase, about 2 million square feet will be developed.
“The total investment for the project is estimated around Rs 5,600 crore, which includes construction cost Rs 5,000 crore while the land cost is Rs 600 crore. The top line of the project is pegged at Rs 15,000 crore,” Whiteland chairman Navdeep Sardana said.The first phase, consisting of 674 residences, will be launched in the second quarter of this financial year.“We are looking at all the major cities, both leisure and urban. It’s about the demand and premium because these projects will provide the facilities, similar to a hotel. We would have a dozen such properties in the next couple of years because there’s so many big cities in India and it has the biggest population globally and also one of the youngest populations as well,” Phuong said.
Since India is a price sensitive market, the company doesn’t want to charge high maintenance.
“We want to ensure that the CAM (common area maintenance) fees we charge, even if slightly premium compared to the market, are reasonable for both the developer and the buyer. We are conducting extensive market studies and benchmarking to make sure the quality and cost of operating the property make sense to the buyer,” she said.
