Brand tie-up: Donald Trump eyes commercial realty in India
Trump will soon announce a “brand tie-up” with private equity fund and developer IREO in Gurgaon, Donald Trump Junior, executive vice-president of development and acquisitions, The Trump Organisation, told HT.
After investing in super luxury residential projects in Mumbai and Pune, American real estate mogul Donald Trump is looking to foray into commercial real estate in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).
Trump will soon announce a “brand tie-up” with private equity fund and developer IREO in Gurgaon, Donald Trump Junior, executive vice-president of development and acquisitions, The Trump Organisation, told HT.
The company currently has two super luxury projects in India — a twin-tower 46-apartment block with Panchshil Realty in Pune and a 300-apartment project with the Lodha Group in Mumbai.
“We see a tremendous opportunity for Class A office space in India,” said Trump Junior, whose father Donald Trump is the Republican Presidential candidate in the 2016 US elections.
“As more international companies look to have presence in India, they are seeking the types of spaces that allow them to project a strong, professional presence. Local companies are beginning to value this as well. These groups are willing to pay significant premiums to be in these buildings, but there are very few available.”
The Trump-IREO deal will be for a new high-end 600,000-700,000 sq ft office building on Gurgaon’s Golf Course Extension Road. It will be built by IREO alongside a retail format for Rs 1,000 crore.
“India being a rapidly growing market, is becoming more and more sophisticated in its demand for world-class buildings,” Trump Junior said.
Besides sporting the luxurious Trump brand, the property will also have architectural designs by Norman Foster’s Foster+Partners.
Foster is known for some of the world’s best office spaces, including Apple’s headquarters.
“The tower will be on par with the Trump commercial towers anywhere in the world,” said Lalit Goyal, vice-chairman, IREO.
The partnership has recently been formalised and the project is still in its early stages of design and planning, sources said.
Trump, whose realty portfolio includes projects in South Korea, Turkey and Dubai, in addition to hotels and skyscrapers in the US, said the company is now looking at other avenues such as second home markets and resort locations outside Mumbai and Goa.
“Cities like Bangalore, Noida, Delhi and Kolkata provide a lot of opportunity. We are also confident of adding additional projects in Mumbai and Pune,” Trump said. “We have an aggressive pipeline in India and are thrilled with our announcement in Gurgaon.”`
He, however, did not give details of his investment plans in India.