A desire to watch sunsets from one?s balcony, live in a tony neighbourhood, or share a jogging track with the rich and the famous drove the sale of high valued residential and commercial assets in 2012.
The prices of these ?trophy assets?, which go up to hundreds of crores in some cases, made enough buzz too ? be it industrialist Sajjan Jindal?s R500-crore purchase of sea facing Maheshwari House on Napean Sea Road in Mumbai, or Citibank paying R950 crore for the purchase of 3 lakh square feet for a commercial space in Bandra Kurla Complex, the upcoming financial centre of Mumbai.
Sale of some apartments owned by corporates and financial institutions in tony locations and some commercial assets were also outliers in a largely sluggish real estate market.
Citibank is understood to have offloaded five apartments in various upmarket locations of Mumbai ? Malabar Hill, Nariman Point, Carmichael Road, Bandra and Colaba ? ranging from R20 crore to about R30 crore in at least two of these five cases, according to industry sources. Standard Chartered Bank is also believed to have sold an apartment in Worli for nearly R40 crore.
In commercial, Mumbai?s Lodha Developers bagged US Consulate?s Washington House on Altamount Road for R342 crore, paying over R1.4 lakh per square metre (one square metre equals to 10.76 sq ft), consumer goods major Hindustan Unilever sold its Gulita property in the posh Worli area for R450 crore to Ajay Piramal owned-Piramal Realty.
In most cases, prices have appreciated in these assets. Property consultants say these assets are very rare and do not come up for sale too often. Being in short supply, these trophy assets always command a higher price, and are not a reflection of prices in the overall market.
?People who live in some of these high-end locations do not want to move out of these areas and would want to own a house in the vicinity itself,? said Poonam Mahtani, national director (residential services), Colliers International, global real estate consultants. ?They will buy irrespective of the price, as such assets are so rare to come by,? she added.
?There is a good amount of demand for trophy assets. People wait for long to grab the opportunity of owning some of these, and then price is not the factor there,? said Rohan D?Silva, national director (residential agency), Knight Frank India, a global property consulting firm.
Given the rarity and uniqueness of such properties, some deals take years to fructify. Jindal, for example, waited for over a year before he closed the Maheshwari House deal that is understood to have stuck on settlement not being reached with one of the occupants of the bungalow.
Advertisement for sale of Citibank?s apartment in Carmichael Road was floated in August last year.
However, it is believed to have closed this year for between R18 crore to R20 crore. Given the high price tag and importance attached to these properties, such deals take time to close, making them far and few between.
?Right now, valuations in some of these assets are on an all time high,? said Ravi Ahuja, executive director (office transactions), Cushman and Wakefield India, an international real estate consultants. ?It is not just end users but also real estate developers who buy some of these marquee assets to later build luxury or super-luxury apartments which fetches higher price in these assets.?
With rising aspirations, there are a lot more new high-end addresses being created. Mumbai?s Lodha Developer for instance is advertising a project called World Towers in Lower Parel area of central Mumbai, where the interiors are being designed by luxury fashion brand Armani. The project has houses ranging from R12.5 crore to a whopping over R100 crore. A Pune-based developer City Corporation recently tied up with international crystal brand Swarovski for its 14-acre township in Pune. Swarovski will design crystal applications and lighting products for the township?s interiors.
?It is not just the old family run businesses that are buying trophy assets. With entrants to the millionaire list increasing, you would see someone completely new coming to buy property in some of these locations,? said D?Silva.
Not just in Mumbai, other metro cities of India, too, have seen some high valued transactions during the year.
About 5,700 sq ft apartment in a building named Vijay Shanti Art on Kothari Road, an upmarket location in Chennai, got sold for nearly R13 crore this year, according to sources.
Sources say that locations in south Delhi like Vasant Vihar attract a price between R10 lakh and R12 lakh per square yard while central Delhi locations like Golf Link road, Jor Bagh have prices in the range of R17 lakh to R18 lakh per square yard. Bangalore?s Lavelle Road, among the costliest areas of the southern city, also commands a rate of around R25,000 to R30,000 per sq ft, considered high for the city.
