The Hindu Business Line : Pantaloon outfit plans to set up 51 malls

PFH Investment Advisory, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Pantaloon Group, plans to set up 51 malls across the country, spanning 14.5 million sq. ft. The group recently floated two retail real estate venture funds, Kshitij Venture Capital (KVC) and Horizon International Fund.

Also on cards is the floating of a specialised mall management company, for which PFH Investment is in talks with a few international players in mall management for a partnership deal.

The company is likely to be floated by February-March this year. Branded as Kshitij Retail Destinations, these malls would come up not only in the four metros and Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune, but also in tier-two towns such as Coimbatore, Madurai, Vijaywada, Rajahmundry, Kozhikode Kochi and Hubli.

Kshitij Retail Destinations would be a combination of malls owned by KVC/ Horizon and a few other malls, which would be leased by Pantaloon, said Mr Shishir Baijal, Managing Director and CEO, PFH Investment Advisory. "However, the entire project would be marketed by Kshitij," said Mr Baijal. The total project cost is Rs 2,500 crore, out of which KVC/ Horizon's contribution to the equity would be Rs 600 crore.

The malls that would come up in the metros would be towns centres or market cities, which would be spread over an area of at least 25 acres. Mr Baijal said that the town centres would not only cater to shopping, leisure and entertainment needs, but would also have facilities such as a convention centre, hotels, service apartments and commercial spaces.

"As far as shopping is concerned, we are looking at offering not only serious retail such as a hypermarket, but also high-street shopping.

The company has already identified space in Chennai and Mumbai to develop these town centres. "The size of the malls in the tier-two cities would be in the region of 1,50,000 to 2,00,000 sq. ft., and would be anchored by a hypermarket and a multiplex. To add some local flavour, we are also looking at including a few local players," said Mr Baijal.

The malls are being designed by US international architect groups, Callison and the Rockwell Group.

The USP of all these malls, said Mr Baijal, is that they would be located well within the city limits.

He said that all the 51 malls would be set up by 2008.