Ambuja Neotia Group partners with Apeejay Surrendra for Park-branded Kolkata residences

Neotia said that the group is planning to set up luxury villa and second home projects at its under-development resorts

• Ambuja Neotia, ASPH to build Park Unizen homes in Kolkata
• Project includes 69 luxury homes and a 218-key Park hotel
• Rs 700 crore invested; 25 of 35 launched homes already sold

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Real estate developer Ambuja Neotia Group has announced a partnership with the listed hospitality firm Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels (ASPH) to develop the Park Unizen branded homes project in Kolkata's Eastern Metropolitan Bypass. The branded homes are part of a 3.4 acre development that also includes a 218-key hotel, under ASPH's flagship brand 'The Park'.

The partners are investing around Rs 700 crore towards the hotels-and-residences development, of which around Rs 260 crore has been earmarked for the branded residences. Out of the 69 planned homes in the project, 35 have been launched in the first phase, of which 25 have been sold. The four and five-bedroom apartments, designed by American firm Gensler, have a starting price of Rs 8.31 crore, although the promoters expect to take a significant price hike for the second phase of sales.

In an interaction with Moneycontrol, Ambuja Neotia Group chairman Harshavardhan Neotia said that the demand for branded residences, both in Kolkata as well as in other cities such as Gurugram, Mumbai, Noida, and Bengaluru, are being driven by the desire for exclusivity and luxury amenities, especially those associated with premium and luxury hotels.

"It's about combining the need for people who want a little luxury and amenities of hospitality, and also the fact that it gives a more exclusive address. There are two types of branded residences. One is with the adjacent hotel, which I think has a little more value because the hotel then can give you a lot of services,. The other is branded residences with famous brands where they try to bring some design elements into the project which does not have the service offering," Neotia said, during the interaction.

"So here we have the Park Hotel next to it and the residents of this building will be able to access some of those facilities on a privileged basis. It's a concept which is fairly matured world over," noted Neotia.

Multiple developers and hospitality chains have cashed in on the trend towards luxury homes and branded residences, such as M3M partnering with Jacob & Co and Elie Saab for homes in the National Capital Region, as well as the Trump Organisation partnering with a number of Indian developers for Trump-branded luxury properties across various cities.

Hotel chains such as Four Seasons and the Taj have also set up luxury residence projects, largely in partnerships with pure-play real estate developers, helping them leverage their brands, while largely keeping development risk off their balance sheets.

Neotia said that while it does not have more branded residence projects in the pipeline, the group can look to integrate luxury villas and second-home projects in its resorts under development, also employing a sale-and-leaseback mechanism to help generate income for investors. Such a project, he said, is in the works for a project in the hill station of Darjeeling, although the scheme has not been finalised.