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| Edited By: Amritha Pillay |Source: DNA |Updated: Mar 18, 2018, 03:17 AM IST
Equinox Realty, Essar group’s real estate arm, plans to enter the mixed development space, with a focus on building malls, under its next phase of expansion.
The company that owns a large commercial property in Mumbai is undertaking a couple of residential projects in western India.
“We are definitely interested in retail. We took Mihan (Multi-modal International Cargo Hub at Nagpur) for retail,” said Chirag Ramakrishna, CEO, Equinox Realty.
Since not much is happening at Mihan project, Equinox has also not undertaken much activity at Nagpur.
But it is looking to kickstart the hospitality segment of the total 10 acre facility that it plans to develop in Nagpur.
“We are waiting for things to settle down at the Maharashtra Airport Development Company. We would then look at the hospitality part of the project, but would not be able to give a timeline,” said Ramakrishna. The size of the project would be around 100 to 150 rooms.
“A city like Nagpur will be able to take only this much capacity at the moment,” he said.
While Mihan may take time, the company is looking at retail options at other locations. “We will surely look at retail projects as part of our mixed development plans in the next phase,” Ramakrishna said.
In the next phase, the company plans to expand horizon from its existing markets of Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore.
“While we could look at our existing markets, we may also tap other markets as well,” said Chirag. However, the real estate developer will not look at standalone retail projects.
Equinox is currently planning residential projects at three locations — Thane, Pune and Bangalore. While land has been acquired for the Thane and Bangalore projects, the company is yet to identify a location for the Pune project.
Equinox would spend Rs2,800 crore in the next two years. It has already invested around Rs1,200 crore for the purchase of its Kurla business park Equinox Centre. The Essar group bought this property from Ashok Piramal group three years back.
