P Ravindra Pai, Managing Director, Century Real Estate holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the very prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.In his last assignment Mr. Pai was responsible for sales in South and West of India for Oracle Corporation. With significant experience in the Real Estate and Construction industry to his credit, Mr. Pai oversees all activities of the Company including sourcing of land, project conceptualisation, execution and delivery. Pai brought to the company his rich experience spanning diverse roles including software programming, business process migration and sales with reputed companies such as Tata Infotech and GE Capital.
Century Real Estate is an integrated, full-service real estate development company headquartered in Bangalore, India with a rich history of developing premier projects and landmark buildings that spans three decades. Established in 1973, we have contributed significantly to making Bangalore the destination of choice for people from around the world. The company is the largest owners of real estate in Bangalore with a land bank in excess of 3000 acres representing more than US$ 2 billion in asset value, and a development portfolio of over 10 million square feet comprising hotels, office buildings, residences, educational institutions and integrated townships. In large measure, we have achieved this position through our ability of continuously Thinking Ahead® for our customers, employees and all other stakeholders of the Company
Replying to Yash Ved of IIFL, P Ravindra Pai says "Our residential portfolio by the end of this financial year will be totaling 4 million sq ft."
Brief us about your current and upcoming projects?
We currently have 14 residential projects under construction, totaling to about 1.7 million square feet. We propose to launch five projects in this financial year, which will add another 2.3mn sq ft. These include apartments in the mid range and high range as well as luxury villas within gated communities. Currently, our commercial portfolio is not very large, but we are hoping that in the coming years this forms 30% of our overall portfolio.
In the hospitality space, our partnership continues with Royal Orchid Hotel, with a 130 room Business Hotel in Bangalore CBD and also City View, which is a mixed development and houses “The Four Seasons, Bengaluru", a 230 room, 7 star Hotel along with 100 units of branded residences.
What is the total area under development?
Our residential portfolio by the end of this financial year will be totaling 4 million sq ft.
Our total portfolio of development will be 9.6 million sq ft spread over the next five years.
Are you seeing some slowdown in your projects?
While there is some resistance in the high end and luxury segments, the demand for apartments in the range of Rs 50 lakhs to Rs 80 lakhs is very robust.
What is your land bank?
We currently own a land bank in excess of 3000 acres, which is under various stages of development.
Are you in talks with other PE firms for Projects?
We are in discussion with various PE firms for project level participation.
How do you see commercial and residential demand?
The commercial offtake has been slow, as companies are going slow on their expansion plan which has in turn affected absorption of commercial real estate.
Brief us about your MOU with IIM, Bangalore?
Century Real Estate and the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore have signed a MoU on May 17th for setting up the IIMB-Century Real Estate Research Initiative, a first of its kind in the country.
The IIMB-Century Real Estate Research Initiative will focus on collecting data and conducting scientific, cross-disciplinary research on the Indian Real Estate sector that will be published in leading academic and practitioner journals.
In addition, the Research Initiative will seek to provide guidance and policy prescriptions to government and industry stakeholders on major issues relating to the Real Estate sector. There is a tearing need for such an initiative in the Real Estate space that will focus on research, act as an interface between the industry and the policy makers and eventually churn out quality human resource for this sector.