Not too far from the hustle and bustle of the city, it is a fine Moroccan treat complete with traditional roundhouses and cactus buds. The Zellige mosaic just adds to the glitter and the ‘Dar’ exteriors are typically Moroccan. If in case you are not keen on Moroccan theme, you could pick and choose from a wide variety of other options – villas and flats that have drawn inspiration from Spanish villas, Greek houses or Mediterranean themes.
An array of foreign interior designers are busy coordinating with domestic builders to pack a designer punch. In a booming and competitive Indian residential real estate market, builders are adopting innovative selling strategies to stand out. Developers of residential projects are finding themselves contending with increasingly evolved tastes among buyers. Theme-based housing is among the newest marketing mantra for the real estate players to attract customers.
Theme-based houses are positioned to tap the new Indian buyer, who wants a residential address that matches his changing lifestyle and aspirations.
Om Ahuja, CEO – residential services, Jones Lang LaSalle India, attributes exposure to international home concepts among many of India’s well-travelled property buyers, the reason behind rising bar on differentiation in residential projects.
“Themed residential projects make a lot of sense from marketing perspective. Having a theme helps in creating differentiation in a market that has been deluged with launches of residential projects,” says Ahuja.
The different trends include inspirations from Spanish villas to Greek houses to Mediterranean to Moroccan. Each builder tries to be as exclusive as possible in branding the project, according to Hetal Shukla – an art installation artist. “The newer trend is to get famous foreign interior designers to design the interiors for giving it an edge. Philippe Starck and Jade have already done their signature projects in India.”
Sports in general and golf, in particular, is a recurring concept popular among India’s more affluent homebuyers. Sports cities are townships conceived and executed on a sports-centric theme and lifestyle concept.
Pune-based Amit Enterprises has in fact adopted country-specific themes in projects like Bloomfield in Pune’s Ambegaon. This project offers bungalows, villas and flats in a scheme which draws inspiration from Singapore’s ethnic, yet cosmopolitan lifestyle. Meanwhile, Lavasa aspires to become a metaphor for the future Indian city with a township featuring lakeside apartments and Mediterranean-themed villas. The country-specific theme trend is evident in cities like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai.
“This marketing strategy helps cater to a niche audience that are no longer impressed by facilities such as clubhouses, swimming pools or health clubs, but their lifestyle aspirations now go far beyond,” says Brotin Banerjee, managing director and chief executive officer, Tata Housing, one of the leading developers joining the bandwagon of this newest marketing mantra. Raisina Residency in Gurgaon is based on art and culture, whereas, La Montana in Talegaon is conceptualised around the theme of Mediterranean architecture. Elaborating on the type of buyers going for these kind of projects, Banerjee, said, “The usual consumers are people who want to live life king-size, those who’ve known affluence and indulgence. There simplicities of condominium living need to go beyond luxury homes. They should be a reflection of their taste and lifestyle. The HNIs and large expat communities are seen as large investors.”
Metros like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Kolkata, witnessing an influx of working population from the corporate sector with larger disposable incomes, have seen major boost for such theme-based developments, according to Banerjee.
Delhi-based Unibera Developers has just launched a residential complex in Noida Extension exclusively for employees of IT/ITes companies.
According to Sandeep Reddy, co-founder of Groffr, India’s largest group buying portal in real estate and also the marketing consultant to this project, such profession-based projects not only enable developers to sell their inventories quicker and ease their liquidity condition, but also saves the marketing and sales cost (which is about seven to eight per cent of the project) because most sales deals take place direct with referrals, thus saving a huge amount as brokerage and monthly remuneration to sales team. These savings can be passed on to the buyers. “It works well for both developer as well as end buyers because the project attracts like-minded people of same profession much quicker than what any other normal projects would do.”
Theme-based residency is fast catching up in Kolkata also. You can very well be in Kolkata and still feel as if you are in the Mediterranean, courtesy ‘Dream Palazzo’, a theme-based residential complex, designed and developed by Jain Group.
“Spread across 100-cottah amidst green nature at Rajarhat, in the northern fringes of the city, Dream Palazzo will have a garden that promises to take you back in time,” Shrayans Jain, vice-chairman, Jain Group, told FC Build. The fountains, sculptures, brick pathway and theme of garden will definitely make a resident feel the essence of the Mediterranean.
“It’s not just the architecture or look or amenities, but the positioning and theme of the project that would be most important not only from our perspective, but from the buyers’ point of view as well,” Jain said.
Shveta Jain, director, residential services, Cushman & Wakefield India, thinks that typically, themed projects should have the chosen theme inherent in the DNA of the project and should be prevalent throughout. Hence, not only in terms of architectural design, but even finishes, specifications, facilities, amenities and services should reflect the chosen theme.
“All of these could add to the costs of the project. Hence, themed projects do target the well-heeled because there is usually an element of a premium attached to pricing. Especially, those projects that have international themes, are targeted at the well-heeled because they have usually travelled/stayed abroad and are aware of the themes.”
But, are these types of projects only being offered for the niche, super-rich crowd?
Not exactly. Some theme-based projects are targeted at the mid-segment also, but, usually employ the theme only for cosmetic purposes, that is, superficial external finishes or outer building design. “The theme may not be prevalent in all aspects of the project. Such projects cannot really command a premium as their offerings are not really differentiated from other mid-segment projects,” adds Jain.
Highlighting the future prospects of such developments Rohit Kumar, head of research, DTZ-India, a real estate consultancy firm, said, “Theme housing will take a back seat in the short to medium-term since the economic conditions are not conducive for such projects which are priced higher than normal projects because of their niche appeal.”
Explaining the pricing strategy that developers employ for such developments, Jain from Cushman said, “The cost of creating ambience is usually subsumed in the cost of the unit, therefore, making it a safe bet for developers. However, since pricing is key in turning interest into actual sales, average pricing trends of the location have to be taken into consideration while creating their pricing strategy. Thus, in high-end locations, a marginally higher cost may not affect sales (in some cases, actually enhances sales), in mid ranged locations, too much deviation in pricing strategy may reduce the attractiveness of the project.”
Prices can vary between 20 per cent and 100 per cent depending upon the location and the features that are included in the project. However, the price comparisons have to be made within a limited geographic area as market dynamics would be similar within those areas, according to Jain.
High-end developments are taking place in locations of NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai, though the number of projects launched is smaller than their more affordable counterparts.
“Acquiring property is an investment that the affluent have had for a while, but with the increasing purchasing power of consumers, the need to be associated with anything exotic sets the bar. It is this set of people, well-travelled and dynamic who look for these conducive and holistic environments for residences,” says Banerjee of Tata Housing.
(With input from Ritwik Mukherjee in Kolkata)
sanusandilya@mydigitalfc.com
Source: wrd.mydigitalfc.com
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