‘We bet on India’s high-end realty before others’

Singh Garima Updated - February 20, 2018 at 11:34 PM.

Trump Organization eyes entry into commercial realty, hospitality: Trump Jr

Donald John Trump Jr (centre) flanked by Basant Bansal, Chairman, M3M (left), and Kalpesh Mehta, Managing Partner, Tribeca Developers, in New Delhi on Tuesday

Global realty major Trump Organization is not only keeping its faith on India’s high-end residential realty market, but also eyeing entry into the hospitality sector in the coming days, said its visiting honcho Donald Trump Jr.

Also on the cards is entry into commercial realty by the year-end, he said in a media roundtable in the capital.

“We will hopefully launch commercial project sometime this year. Work is still going on the designs and we are yet to finalise some of the concepts,” said Trump Jr. who is on a week-long visit to India.

“We look forward to enter the hospitality sector in India when the time is perfect.”

Gurugram project

The 47-storey ultra-luxurious Trump tower in Delhi-NCR was launched on January 10 in collaboration with M3M and Tribeca Developers.

Claiming this to be the largest Trump project in India, Trump Jr said: “It’s great to be back here. We were early believers in the market before it was trending to be here in high-end or luxury. It’s great to see the hard work finally showing results.”

On being asked what the brand name Trump would bring to the table, as they are not developed, owned or sold by the Trump Organization, he said: “We bring our marketing and construction expertise. You cannot build the same product in New York and in India.

“We are pretty good at what we do, but we know we cannot do everything in our market. So what we do is partner with the best, bring our information, our knowledge and work with them on the ground, and that’s the model we are following here.”

An apartment in the Trump Towers complex in Gurugram runs between $775,000 and $1.5 million. Some of the services which the owners of a flat will be able to enjoy include 24/7 doorman and lifestyle concierge, dry cleaning, housekeeping and laundry service, valet service, on-call chef, full catering service and resident fitness trainers.

For Trump Organization, in terms of the number of projects outside North America, India is one of its largest markets.

The association with brand Trump has also helped M3M and Tribeca Developers sell the project at a time when Indian real estate is going through a challenging phase, they claimed.

“We are getting more than 30-40 per cent premium immediately with the association with brand Trump. For example, if we are selling a project worth ₹100, with Trump coming on table, the same property is being sold at ₹130-140,” said Pankaj Bansal, Director, M3M India.

Maintaining luxury

On how to maintain the luxury that has been provided to the owners even after years, Trump Jr said: “There is a license agreement which allows us to ensure there are funds allocated to maintaining the building and managing it in a certain way. If that does not happen, we can pull our license. The Trump Towers which were built in the early 80s still look the same way.”

When asked about the next city where they plan to enter, he said: “It’s a huge market and as more of that potential gets unleashed, I think there is much more opportunity.”

Published on February 20, 2018 15:49