Plotted projects gain traction post-pandemic: Brigade JMD Nirupa Shankar

'Tenants want to make the office space a lot more fun to bring in more people'

The Covid-19 pandemic changed many things for real estate buyers and developers. In a wide-ranging interview, Brigade Group Joint Managing Director Nirupa Shankar told DH’s Lavpreet Kaur all about the changes, especially the rise in demand for plotted projects. Edited excerpts.

How are your retail and hospitality arms doing after the pandemic?

Hotels are doing better, the rates are better, occupancy is better than pre-Covid (times). Retail malls are flourishing, but I know that things can change and you’re not going to be riding on a high horse at that point. Earlier, business cycles were longer, maybe seven to eight years and then you’ll have a dip. Now, business cycles are shortening to like every four or five years.

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We have had pretty tough cycles with GST, then RERA, then demonetisation, then we had the pandemic and now we have the US and Europe recession. I think what the pandemic has taught us is how do you, how do you ride the wave in the bad times.

What are your plans for your hospitality portfolio?

Right now, the going is good. Healthy trend for at least six to eight months. In the pandemic, we had put a couple of hotels on hold, so we are restarting building them. There are four hotels in the pipeline.

Has the rise of the ‘work from anywhere’ concept affected your office portfolio?

Prior to the pandemic, the coworking or flexible office space or collaborative spaces was maybe 5-7 per cent of the total absorption. But due to the pandemic, they are getting about 20-25 per cent of the overall market share. It might even go up to 30-35 per cent. But 100 per cent cannot go into coworking.

Have tenants made any specific demands about office design?

One tenant asked, ‘Can I bring Goa into the office?’ They want to make the office space a lot more fun to bring in more people. There's a lot of talk on bringing food, fun and activities into the office space.

What will the future of office spaces look like?

What might change is having a hub-and-spoke model. People are going to live close to their workspace, or they're going to work from a place close to their home.

Are Indians still keen on buying real estate?

Jewellery and a home are the two biggest investment classes, and I think that remains. Aspirationally people are just looking for a better-quality product. Plotted development projects seem to be getting the most amount of traction. People want their own plot of land. That’s a post Covid-19 trend.

Are consumers willing to pay a premium for green projects?

They may not be willing to pay a premium for it. It’s become a requirement. It’s not like I am willing to give you 10 per cent more if you are ‘Platinum LEED Certified’. That is a requirement, and then I’ll negotiate with you on market rentals. Nobody is going to give you extra because you’re recycling more, but you can use it as a USP.

What do you think about the future of malls in India?

There's a huge gap because India doesn't have too many grade-A malls. It's still a fairly unorganised player, people still go to the markets and the bazaars, more so than formal retail malls. So, I think there's a huge growth story there, especially in tier-2 and tier-3 markets.