Anarock enters property brokerage segment, to invest Rs 100 cr by mid-2021

Homegrown housing brokerage firm Anarock is entering the commercial real estate consultancy business to sell office properties and will invest Rs 100 crore as well as hire 500 employees by the middle of the next year for the business, a top company official said on Tuesday.

Anarock, which was formed in April 2017 by Anuj Puri after serving global property consultant JLL, will not lease office spaces, a segment dominated by international property consultants (IPCs) like JLL, CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, Knight Frank, Colliers and Savills.

"We are entering into commercial real estate and will focus on strata sale of office assets. This market is very vibrant. We have formed a separate vertical Anarock Commercial with 100 staffs for this new venture," Anarock Chairman Anuj Puri told PTI.

Asked about investment, he said the company would infuse Rs 100 crore into this new business and hire 500 persons by June 2021.

"We are starting with three cities Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), National Capital Region (NCR) and Bengaluru. Later, we will expand to other cities," Puri said, adding that the company has already secured mandate from builders to sell 3 million sq ft.

Talking about potential, Anarock Chairman said that the brokerage in selling office assets is higher at 2-7 per cent compared to 2-4 per cent in the housing segment.

"Sales of office assets require less workforce than housing and are more profitable", he said.

On revenue potential, Puri said, "We are targeting a brokerage income of Rs 100 crore for the next fiscal".

Anarock, which posted a turnover of nearly Rs 190 crore last fiscal, has presence across India and the Middle East with over 2,000 employees.

In a statement, Anarock said it has appointed Bappaditya Basu as chief business officer of Anarock Commercial, a separate entity for this new venture.

"Rs 2.5 lakh crore worth of Grade-A office space under construction in top-7 cities to be completed over the next 4 years; 25 per cent (worth Rs 63,000 crore) up for strata sale," it added.

Anarock Commercial would operate in MMR, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Kolkata.

"Office asset ownership has gained significant traction with investors, including NRIs (non-resident Indians). Depending on the exact location and building facilities, the rental yield ranges from 7-9 per cent for Grade-A office assets and between 9-10 per cent for non-Grade-A spaces," the company said.

Unlike the housing segment, the commercial real estate market is performing well and achieved record leasing of office space in 2019, which saw successful listing of India's first real estate investment trust that helps monetise rent-yielding assets.