 "RMZ")
Bengaluru-based realtor RMZ Corp has announced its ambition to increase its current asset value from $15 billion to $40 billion by adding $25 billion, by 2029. This growth plan involves diversification into various new segments, with investments directed towards office spaces, mixed-use developments, industrial and logistics projects, RMZ Living (offering ultra-luxury residential properties), and the hospitality sector.
The company has also revealed key appointments in its leadership team, including Arshdeep Sethi as president of RMZ Real Estate, and chief executive officers (CEOs) for its different business verticals: Thirumal Govindraj as CEO of RMZ Office, Avnish Singh as CEO of RMZ Mixed Use, Saandip Kundu as CEO of RMZ Living, and Avinash Sule as CEO of both RMZ Industrial & Logistics and RMZ Hospitality.
“This strategic transformation underscores the family’s unwavering commitment to growth and expansion within alternative investment classes. We are deeply focused on investing in high-growth opportunities across geographies that lay the foundations for a sustainable global economy,” said Raj and Manoj Menda, Chairs of the supervisory board of RMZ Corp.
RMZ has been operating in the office space for nearly two decades, along with involvement in retail and residential segments.
The company has a presence in six cities — Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Gurugram, and Mumbai — and has established a footprint in sustainable offices for several years.
“All our buildings are platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified. We use high-reflective ultraviolet-rated glass that provides a 20-25 per cent reduction in power requirements. Our lobbies are all solar integrated,” added Govindraj.
After discontinuing its residential portfolio around 2014, RMZ plans to re-enter the residential business. The initial phase will focus primarily on Mumbai and Delhi, rolling out standalone projects to address first-home buyers. RMZ Residential aims to create more than 5 condos with a value of $0.6 billion in annualized sales by 2029.
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“After the pandemic, we have seen the need for upmarket residential due to the shortage of homes in India. Over the value change, people have understood the importance of living well, not only from a size but from a functional standpoint,” explained Kundu.
RMZ Mixed Use will combine office, hospitality, retail, and living assets, with a focus on Mumbai, Delhi-National Capital Region, and Bengaluru. Singh expects to develop a portfolio of about 15 million square feet (msf) across four different projects in the next five years, with two projects nearing completion in the first quarter of calendar year 2024.
“We believe that from a 15 msf execution plan, we intend to have a gross asset value of about $8 billion by 2029, which is the target of RMZ Mixed Use. A part of this will be equity from the RMZ balance sheet, which we have already deployed. These are city-centric projects where, ideally, transportation and other infrastructure have already developed,” added Singh.
RMZ Industrial & Logistics is an extension of the company’s development capabilities in real estate. The company aims to build Grade A warehouses for e-commerce and industrial tenants, with a target of 62 msf at a value of $3 billion by 2029.
“The idea is to build the warehouses ground up across the key cities of India — Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Pune. We have already started in this vertical and have acquired land, and will hopefully start development in the next quarter or so,” said Sule.
Sule, who will also be heading the hospitality sector, stated that the target for the next five years is to build more than 10 hotels across business and leisure, valued at $3 billion.
RMZ Hospitality will also encompass a mix of all the other assets, with around a billion and a half earmarked from the company balance sheet for the hospitality sector.
“Our primary objective is to create exceptional assets and high-quality portfolios on a global scale. We have great confidence in the India growth story and are committed to annually adding rent-yielding real estate of around $5 billion to our portfolio, alongside annualised sales of $600 million in luxury residential in 2029. Furthermore, one-fifth of our capital allocation strategy is dedicated to acquiring and developing premium real estate in key gateway markets worldwide, such as London and New York,” said Sethi.
