Puravankara eyes commercial realty biz; plans to develop 10 mn sq ft

Realty firm Puravankara plans to develop around 10 commercial projects in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad in the next five years as part of its strategy to diversify portfolio and encash rising demand of office and retail space, a company's top official said.

The Bengaluru-based firm has so far completed 67 residential and only five commercial projects. It has three completed commercial projects in Bengaluru and one each in Chennai and Hyderabad, totalling 1.3 million sq ft area.

Puravankara has hired industry veteran Vishal Mirchandani as Chief Business Officer - Commercial and Retail, to grow the business in this segment.

"Puravankara is a strong and established brand and it is a great opportunity to further realize its potential through commercial real estate development. Diversification of our existing product mix is a conscious decision and natural progression towards our bigger goal," company's MD Ashish R Puravankara told PTI.

He said it is the right time to expand the company's business horizon by increasing commercial space presence.

"A robust strategy has been devised to oversee the expansion of our commercial portfolio in the key metro cities. The plan is to add another 10 million sq ft in the next five years," Ashish said.

This would lead to a diversified revenue mix and further fortify visibility of future earnings potential, he added.

Puravankara has already acquired strategic land parcels in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad to develop commercial projects. It will sell as well as give on lease commercial space. Out of the total 10 million sq ft planned development, 80 per cent would be office space.

It is coming up with four projects each in Bengaluru and Pune, while few more projects are in final stages of acquisition totalling to about 10 million sq ft of development in the coming five years.

"The upcoming projects will be a mix of standalone and jointly developed projects," Ashish said.

Singapore's Keppel Land has already made a strategic investment for 1.4 million sq ft commercial project at Yeshwantpur, Bengaluru.

Last month, Puravankara had announced that its JV with Keppel Land would buy 7.6 acre of land in Bengaluru from Metro Cash & Carry India for Rs 4.05 billion.

The company has presence in Bengaluru, Kochi, Chennai, Coimbatore, Mangaluru, Hyderabad, Mysore, Mumbai and Pune. The company has close to 38 million square feet of projects which are completed and delivered. Around 23 million sq ft is under development.

It operates under two key brands: Puravankara for luxury housing and commercial offices, Provident for the affordable luxury segment.

Puravankara recently reported a flat net profit at Rs 215.4 million for the quarter ended September, compared to Rs 211.4 million in the year-ago period. Total income rose to Rs 4.99 billion during quarter from Rs 3.71 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Its sales bookings rose 27 per cent to Rs 10.03 billion in the first six months of this fiscal on better volumes in affordable housing segment.