Chennai: Major Real Estate Deals of 2014

Chennai real estate market was, more or less, stable over the year 2014 with no major developments in the first half of the year. However, market sentiments improved during the second half after the formation of the new government at the centre and the announcement of new policies and initiatives.

 As such, various deals were inked during the year. The following are some of the major deals inked during this year.  

1. Ashok Leyland is looking to sell its 1 acre plot at Boat Club area in Chennai for a whopping amount between ₹ 10 – 12 crore. This is part of their plan involving sale of immovable property to tackle high debt it is facing following the slowdown in commercial vehicle sales over the last several quarters.
2. Videocon Group to set up a manufacturing facility with an investment of ₹ 1,000 crore in Tamil Nadu. The Videocon group’s subsidiary – Unity Appliances – would be establishing a consumer durable production unit at Manamadurai in Shivaganga district investing ₹ 1,000 crore in the next five years.
3. Danfoss Industries is setting up a green-field manufacturing and R&D hub near Chennai. The facility at Oragadam is spread over 50 acres and would be fully ready by the end of this year.
4. Realty major Tata Housing is going to invest over ₹ 700 crore to develop a new housing project in Chennai. Sprawling over 15 acres, the project would comprise of about 1,600 units.
5. Mumbai-based Hiranandani Group bought Hirco Plc’s 368-acre Chennai project for ₹2,000 crore. This is being termed as one of their biggest auctions in the city.
6. Polyhose India has acquired about 86 acre land parcel that originally belonged to Presidency Kids Leather near Chennai. The deal size, including stamp duty, is said to have closed at Rs 100 crore.
7. Colombo-based hotel chain Aitken Spence Hotels has bought Reseda-The Fern, a five-star hotel in Chennai for $25 million (about 150 crore) from the Rayala Group.
8. Sundaram BNP Paribas Home Finance is considering to raise Rs 3,000 crore including Rs 1,000 crore through NCDs over the next nine months.
9. Shriram’s real estate unit has entered into a preliminary agreement with AVM Balasubramanian, one of the five sons of Meiyappan, to pick up economic interest in about 6.5 acres of prime land at Vadapalani in Chennai, which is part of the complex housing India’s oldest surviving film studio AVM. The developer plans to build 700,000 sq. ft. residential project on the land.
10. Mahindra Lifespace Developers (MLDL), the real estate and infrastructure development arm of the $16.5- billion Mahindra Group, will invest ₹ 350 crore in the affordable housing space in another one year’s time.
11. Chennai based real estate firm VGN Developers Pvt. Ltd is looking to raise ₹ 400 crore from private equity funds.
12. IVRCL Ltd has put up ₹ 4,000 crore worth of assets for sale and expects to come out of debt burden in the next two years. Assets for sale include road projects both operational and under construction and desalination plant in Chennai.
13. Piramal Fund Management has raised $50 million (₹ 300 crore) for the offshore real estate fund. This is the first time that the group has raised funds from institutional investors abroad.