Tribeca launches rental housing platform, co-founder says can consider residential REIT

The Trilive platform is aiming for a supply of 7,000 to 8,000 beds in the next 2-3 years across India

Luxury real estate firm Tribeca Developers, which develops Trump-branded properties in India, has announced the launch of Trilive, which it calls India's first dedicated rental housing platform, with Tribeca's co-founder Kalpesh Mehta saying that it is intended to meet demand for quality housing among young, mid-to-high-salaried professionals in major cities.

Tribeca has partnered with its sister firm Housr, a dedicated co-living platform, as well as with the developer Starwing group, for the first project under the platform at the Marol neighbourhood in Andheri (East), Mumbai. The developers added that they chose Marol for its first project due to the area being a hub for financial services and technology companies, along with major companies and professional services firms.

In an interaction with Moneycontrol, Mehta said that the first 300 apartments of the planned 650-unit development, all of which are studio apartments with a carpet area of 190 to 200 square feet, will be sold for Rs 70 lakh each.

With annual rental yields on residential properties hovering in the 2-3 percent range, Mehta said that it is targeting twice that yield for the new development with a nine-year lease from Housr, which will manage the development, with more value addition in every apartment.

"We are looking to build New York-style studio apartments for the young professional class that is highly paid, but often have to choose low-quality housing as many housing societies and landlords do not allow single men and women to rent homes. These will be high-end and fully furnished homes, and will be different in design than regular housing, such as the apartments having a kitchenette instead of a full kitchen. For the investors in the project, we are targeting a yield of around 6 percent for them, double the existing yield for rental housing," Mehta told Moneycontrol.

Mehta said that the targeted investors for the sale component of the project include salaried professionals as well as family offices and other large investors. He added that while the first 300 units of the planned development would be sold to investors, the founders may choose to manage the balance.

"We are yet to decide on whether to sell or manage the other 300-350 units. We can choose to manage the units as well, and we can also consider doing it through a residential REIT (real estate investment trust)," Mehta added. Due to low levels of rental yields in India, developers and asset managers have avoided residential REITs so far, with all four listed REITs in India being for commercial assets. Residential REITs are common in countries such as the U and the UK.

The developers noted that their value addition proposition for the project, which Housr co-founder Deepak Anand described as "similar to a four-star hotel", is in the form of integrated services such as furnishings, meals, laundry services and internet connectivity, among other measures.

Anand added that the Trilive platform is targeting a supply of around 7,000 to 8,000 beds across major Indian markets over the next two to three years.