As billionaire Donald Trump prepares to launch a real estate project aimed at the uber-rich, a question mark hangs over the absorption potential in the segment.
As billionaire Donald Trump prepares to launch a real estate project aimed at the uber-rich, a question mark hangs over the absorption potential in the segment.
The 60-storey Trump Tower, slated to come up at Hughes Road, will have 40-45 apartments — roughly one per floor.
Penthouses, podium decks, leisure floors and a 24-hour concierge will be among the facilities on offer.
The floor rise cost will be one of the highest in the country, at Rs35 lakh per floor. In other words, the person living on the topmost floor would pay Rs21 crore just for floor rise, apart from Rs40 crore for the apartment.
The apartment would have 5,800 sq ft super built-up apartments, with usable area of 1,800 sq ft.
According to a presentation available with DNA , the exclusive launch was supposed to be in mid-December 2010 with the attendance of Donald Trump, Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump.
The formal launch was to be on January 22 and the mock property was to be ready by mid-March 2011.
Interestingly, however, the Trump family is unlikely to invest any money in the project.
This is because foreign direct investment (FDI) regulations in the country do not allow any foreign investor to come in the market and develop anything less than a 25-acre parcel or a minimum construction of 5 lakh sq ft, whereas the Trump Tower is a 2.5 lakh sq ft property.
Also, the foreign money that the investor brings has to be retained in India for a minimum three years.
Thus, sources say, it’s just the brand name that the Trumps are lending to the project with Rohan Lifescapes.
Realty experts, too, say it would be either a franchise arrangement or the lending of a brand name. With no equity participation in the project, the brand’s commitment to the project remains questionable.
“The foreign brand carries a certain dependability, delivery on time and the product as it claims to be. But they work two-ways as the expectation of the buyer has to be managed and developer has to conform to the demands. The branded product will do better than the existing ones, but there is a huge technical issue with foreign brands — they cannot operate unless they meet certain guidelines,” said Pranay Vakil, India head of Knight Frank India Ltd. The city’s ability to absorb such properties is a concern, too.
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