LUXURY at a Cost [Dec 2011]

LUXURY at a CostAli M Lokhandwala, Director, Lokhandwala Infrastructure talks about luxury living that comes at a price and the reasons for high rise buildings being the viable option in metro cities
“Let’s all build together and improve the image of developers in India because we do a lot of hard work which for some reason gets camouflaged because we are always known to charge high whereas developers have a lot to go through the entire cycle of the project”
Lokhandwala Infrastructure is into luxury living, How do you define luxury living?The definition of luxury varies from person to person. Today, amenities such as a swimming pool, well-ventilated homes are considered as luxury by some. German bath fittings to bath tubs to Italian marble flooring to Italian flooring or better imported marble flooring could be an option for others. As one aims higher and higher; sky is the limit. On the other hand our buildings, the facilities range from having a concierge service, spas, car washes, to health club, yoga rooms. Ultimately, one of the things we are offering as luxury in apartments comprise of swimming pools or private swimming pools.
Can we say that luxury living is not affordable as there is a different housing segment namely ‘affordable housing’?Unfortunately we cannot give away these luxurious amenities at an affordable price. The drawback lies in maintaining the amenities which is not an easy affordable task. Offering these amenities is easy; however people will have a difficult task maintaining it because of the cost factor involved. Further, I don’t think it is practical to provide these things in affordable housing, as residents will not be able to afford the monthly maintenance cost every month.
Today the concept of skyscrapers is gradually catching up in cities like Mumbai. Is it a viable option for comparatively smaller cities too?I don’t think skyscrapers are really affordable in smaller cities. In Metro cities itself, it is quite expensive. As far as possible, if somebody has a big layout, I would suggest skyscrapers in smaller cities should be avoided because it is costly to build and maintain. One of the reasons people do high-rise apartments in cities like Mumbai is because of the view. The higher you go, the better view you get. For certain other smaller cities which are not located by the sea you don’t necessarily have the sea-view or a panoramic-view. In addition, there are scarcities of electricity at many places therefore skyscrapers are not a good option at such places. Hence it is not advisable to have skyscrapers everywhere.
Is it that where space is the only constraint you will advise skyscrapers?If space is a constraint then you have no option rather than to go for skyscrapers provided it fits in your cost and other requirements. Moreover, the affordability in terms of maintenance remains a prime concern.
Brief us about your upcoming projects.Currently we have two luxury projects coming up in Mumbai. 150 metres tall ‘Victoria’ at Worli Naka and 300 metres tall ‘Minerva’ at Mahalaxmi are the luxury towers being developed by us. Minerva is going to be a 80-storey building and is going to be one of the topmost luxurious apartments in Mumbai with a full view of race course. Both the projects are designed by renowned Architect Hafeez Contractor.
How much have you invested in both these projects?We are going to be investing around Rs.2,000 crore in the Minerva project and the Victoria project has an investment of about Rs.200 crore.
Apart from Mumbai which are the other cities you are looking at?At the moment we are pretty focused on Mumbai. Today, the real estate market is going through a slight slowdown and we have enough projects in Mumbai which are to completed. At present, I don’t necessarily need to find something outside Mumbai or its suburbs because if the market slows down, the other places will be worst hit as opposed to Mumbai.   
What are the reasons for the sudden slowdown in the real estate market?It is a general perception as well as people’s perception and media has been talking a lot about the fluctuating prices, lack of supply in the market, and builders are charging very high etc. So for various such reasons, the market tends to slowdown, investors wait and watch and later they pick up again in their activity. We expect the sales to pick up again soon. This Diwali we were expecting the market to pick up a lot, it has picked up a bit maybe in another six months things should be alright. Compared to last year, I feel, the sales are slow by about 20 per cent.
What was your last turnover?Last year we clocked a turnover of around Rs.500 crore and this year we should cross around Rs.1,000 crore. As of now, we have achieved most of it. It depends on the next few months, the last quarter and thereafter. We are sold out in Victoria apart from 1 or 2 apartments and Minerva we are almost 50 per cent sold.
Which are the other projects you are looking for apart from these two projects?We are looking for projects mainly in South Central Mumbai. That’s where our main focus is. It’s costly and the demand is consistent even when the market slows down. We have plans to go to the suburbs and we are scouting for good lands, we have few which we plan to start in the future.
What are your strategies for the year to come?Start the projects that we are working on, launch them as soon as possible, continue to acquire newer lands at most reasonable prices and participate in more property exhibitions and sell faster.
Your advice to the potential buyers       If you really like something, don’t wait too long, don’t continue to wait and watch, if you like something, buy it, prices in real estate may go down a bit, it is going to go upwards only, if you like something buy it don’t keep on waiting.
Any message you would like to share with your community?Let’s all build together and improve the image of developers in India because we do a lot of hard work which for some reason gets camouflaged because we are always known to charge high whereas developers have a lot to go through the entire cycle of the project. 

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