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“With six state-of-the-art malls in the pipeline, we are looking at becoming the largest mall operator in the country soon,” said Irfan Razack Chairman & Managing Director, Prestige Group while talking about company's outlook for 2020.
Currently, the company has nine operational malls across Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mangaluru, Mysuru and Udaipur, with over 5 million square feet of gross leasable area and close to 2,000 stores.
Razack said that five more Forum malls are under construction across Bengaluru, Chennai, and Kochi covering approximately 8.1 million square feet of retail space. “By 2023, we aim to have more than 25 malls, covering over 14 million square feet and around 5,000 stores,” he added.
Apart from mall constructions, the company has also planned various projects in the hospitality, commercial and residential space.
Talking about 2020, Razack said, “In 2020, I expect to see greater optimism and trust in Indian real estate. And, of course, substantial growth, especially in the affordable and mid-income housing segments, courtesy the decline in home loan interest rates and the ‘Housing for All by 2022’ initiative.”
He further said, “2020 holds immense promise and I hope that we make the most of it! It’s time for the industry to adopt a more positive outlook, implement realistic pricing, foster greater trust, and tap into the amazing opportunities that the New Year will bring along.”
With regards to the year gone-by, Razack said “When I look back at 2019, I understand how challenging the year has been for real estate in India. Beyond the new GST regulations, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC) crisis, liquidity crunch, and other much-discussed concerns, the biggest challenge, as I see it, is the mounting trust deficit.”
In 2019, the Prestige Group completed projects covering 24.2 million square feet, including 19 million square feet of residential space and 5.2 million square feet office space. “We have completed projects on time, continually meeting customer expectations and sustaining a good momentum of growth. In fact, there has been almost zero vacancy in our commercial properties this year,” he explained.
Razack said, “For Prestige, 2019 was, indeed a busy year. We ventured into new markets like Mumbai and National Capital Region (NCR) in the residential as well as commercial space. We got into strategic collaborations in the hospitality segment - with DB Group to build India’s largest Hotel and Convention Centres at Aero City in Delhi and with Marriott International to develop six hotels across India. With these partnerships, we are poised to become one of the largest hospitality players in India. Incidentally, there has been a renewed interest in the hospitality sector from leading global investors, complementing the infrastructure development in metros as well as tier II and tier III cities.”
"I believe the worst is behind us. With Real Estate Regulation Act (RERA), reduction of GST rates for under-construction properties, and the proposed Rs 20,000-crore fund to provide financing to stalled projects in the affordable and middle-income housing segment, the government is working on positive policy reforms and better credit support to developers," said Razack.
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