US-based
global real estate investment companies Walton Street Capital and Starwood Capital
Group will buy 33 per cent each in a Rs5,000-crore ($1.2 billion) integrated township
project in Kolkota. Shriram Properties, a leading South India-based developer
and is executing the project will have the remaining 33.33 per cent
stake in the project. >The
two American private equity firms, which together have invested over $10 billion
worldwide, have successfully teamed up for the first time in this venture. The
project is being developed on over 300 acres of land previously occupied by the
Hindustan Motors plant in Uttarpara. >When
complete, it will offer about 20 million square feet (1.86 million sq metres)
of residential, retail, office and civic infrastructure for sale and lease, Shriram
Properties managing director M Murali told the media. Walton Street and
Starwood are looking for similar partnerships in India in future, as they seek
to expand their footprints in the country''s real estate and hospitality sectors,
across asset classes and geographical regions. Billionaire Barry Sterlicht
leads Starwood Capital, and Walton Street Capital is led by billionaire Neil Bluhm.
The two real estate investment firms had earlier jointly bid for the US Equity
Office Property Trust, which was eventually won by the Blackstone Group in February
this year. >The
managing director of Walton Street Capital India Sourav Goswami said the internationally
renowned architectural firm HOK would develop the master plan for the project.
>The managing
director of Starwood Capital India Advisors Balaji Rao added that Starwood was
committed to playing a strategic role in the alliance to create a world-class
integrated township. Shriram
Properties executive director S S Asokan said work on the project would begin
in January next year, and would be completed within five years.
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