P Ravindra Pai, Managing Director of Century Real Estate Holdings Pvt Ltd speaks to Leandra Monteiro explaining the lucrative opportunities that are present in the north Bangalore market.
What has driven Century to venture into the northern part of Bengaluru?
Century Real Estate has legacy of 46 years in the Bangalore Real Estate Market and we hold a substantial land bank in North Bangalore. Currently, North Bangalore is witnessing a growth spurt with the rise of several Tech Parks, Malls, Education & Healthcare Institutions and Residential projects. North Bangalore, with its ready infrastructure, proposed Airport Metro connection and expansion of Terminal 2 at KIAL, is the fastest-growing region in the city and is set up to be a prime Commercial Hub. Availability of space, proximity to the airport and excellent connectivity are some of the major reasons why North Bangalore is the budding ground for future development. Century Horizon, our newest project launch, is a well-planned mixed-use development located 5 mins from Hebbal Flyover on the KIAL Road.
What type of development are you looking at in this zone?
North Bangalore has always been a focus area for us and we have already delivered more than 800 apartments and 1,600 plots in North Bangalore across 12 projects. In addition, we have another 650 apartments and 250 plots under development in North Bangalore. Given our strong portfolio in the region, we are looking at a good mix of Residential Apartment, Plotted Projects and Office Space Development in the future. We are very focussed on providing the right product for the end customer. To take the example of Century Horizon, it has 152 Premium Residential Apartments and a self-sustaining Commercial & Retail Development in the front and provides the perfect product-mix for the Project. Based on the strong booking response and customer trust showcased at the Century Horizon launch event, we are confident that North Bangalore will end up seeing substantial growth in the next 5 years.
How many projects do you plan to construct and the timeline?
We are bullish on the North Bangalore micro-market and there are multiple projects under different stages of planning and launch. Our Plotted projects with more than 1,600 units are in the process of being handed over to customers and we are looking at new phases being launched at these projects. Another 4-5 Residential Apartment Projects are in the pipeline for the coming quarters. Further, we are looking at strong growth in the Office Spaces vertical as well. The focus at Century is to provide quality developments to the end customers. Keeping the same in mind, we have also delivered 6 Projects across Bangalore in the last year with strong customer satisfaction.
The past few years have been challenging for Indian real estate, how has Century managed to overcome these challenges? The core strength of Century Real Estate lies in the fact that we have been in the Bangalore Real Estate market since 1973 and have a land bank of more than 3,000 acres - which puts us in a very strong position. While the overall market scenario has been challenging in the past few years, we have experienced that there is huge unmet demand for the right product and that has been demonstrated over the last year when we sold majority of Century Greens Plotted Development within few months and now again with a strong response to the Century Horizon launch. Given this background, we are looking at a strong scale-up in our development vertical, which puts us in a unique position compared to the overall outlook.
