| Alpha Buildtech may be an unknown name, but its eligibility in the high stake realty market precedes it on the basis of a team that has created some of Delhi's and Gurgaon's landmark buildings. |
| No wonder its first project of 242 villas and apartments has already gone into recovery phase with the sale of 120 units even before the architectural masterplan has been approved. |
| Promoting Alpha Buildtech is Mansarovar Builders, an NRI group that holds substantial equity in the spa Ananda at Narendranagar, has JVs with the Taj group of hotels for its Kerala properties, represents the manufacturing and distribution rights in India for Adidas, and owns export house Magnum International. |
| And to spearhead its new venture, it has appointed former operations head of Mahendra Gesco, S K Sayal, as its CEO. |
| And Sayal believes it is the excellence of his former products "" The Great Eastern Plaza and The Great Eastern Centre in Delhi, The Motorola Centre for Excellence, and Gurgaon's Central Park "" that has had buyers queueing up for Alpha Buildtech's Gurgaon One long before plans have been approved. |
| "All our licences and approvals are in, but we're waiting for the revised submission of the masterplan," he says. |
| Gurgaon One, the company's first residential project estimated at Rs 125 crore, is set to break several rules. |
| Not least among these is location "" away from what has already become bustling, but also crowded and traffic-logged, Gurgaon where the majority of the development is continuing. |
| Instead, Alpha Buildtech has gone back to where Gurgaon's development first started, close to the Maruti factory. |
| Because the 10-acre estate is located next to a recently vacated ammunition dump, it comes with a permanent green cover and trees that are several decades old. |
| Canada-based Arcop Associates, the architectural firm that is developing its architectural plans, is incorporating as much of the green cover as possible into its design, and will transplant those trees that have to be removed as part of the development. |
| The plans include 12 villas (at approximately Rs 1 crore), each located on a 450 sq yard plot, while even the smallest of the apartments (at around Rs 50 lakh) has a 2,200 sq ft area. A health club and pool will form the heart of the complex set in a one-acre lawn that separates the dwelling units. |
| "We start activity at the site this month," says Sayal, "with full-fledged construction from April. The project will be delivered in two-and-a-half years." |
| With word-of-mouth sales having already recovered the estimated cost on the project, Sayal is on the fast track of growth. |
| "We're trying to check out locations in Noida and Greater Noida," he confirms. Even more ambitious are plans for cities such as Jaipur and Chandigarh where Alpha Buildtech may opt for full-scale colonisation "because that allows FDI inputs". It is willing to look at commercial projects that include malls or, even, old-age homes. |
| "But we will not take shortcuts," says Sayal who, even though he has carried key members of his team from Mahindra Gesco, is still to put together his complete squad. |
| "The strength of the earlier projects I was associated with included the best technical guidance in building, and transparency. That's the reason why we have been able to pre-sell Gurgaon One," he says. |
| Will Alpha Buildtech deliver on its promise? Sayal smiles: "When the seniormost heads of our architectural firm have shown the confidence by reserving some units for themselves, they know we intend to build nothing short of the best." |
Explore Business Standard