Raghuvinder Pathania, Asst. Vice President Sales & Marketing, Mantri Developers Pvt Ltd. has been working with Mantri Developers for last 11 years and have contributed remarkably in the growth of the company. He has over 13 years of professional experience in managing marketing and sales, customer relationship management and also manages the international business operations.

Mantri Developers Pvt. Ltd. is a leading developer of world class Homes, IT Parks, Retail Spaces and Educational Institutions. Mr. Sushil Mantri founded Mantri Developers in Bangalore in the year 1999. In just 14 years, the company has built over 24 projects. Today, Mantri Developers has to its credit over 10 million square feet of constructed area, over 30,000 satisfied residents and 8 million square feet under various stages of construction. Mantri Developers has a track record of delivering 1.4 homes per day since inception. The company plans to focus on the residential sector, retail, hospitality, IT Parks and educational institutions in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.

Replying to Yash Ved of IIFL, Raghuvinder Singh Pathania says Currently, our portfolio is spread across 20 million sq. ft. which includes 11 million sq.ft in the residential, retail, office, hospitality and townships.

Brief us about your current and upcoming projects in residential, commercial, retail space? Mantri Developers has been at the helm of changing the skyline of South India since 1999. In these 14 years the group has carved a niche for itself in the real estate industry.

In the residential sector, we have just launched Primus Eden at Kanakapura Road. The project, a state of the art luxurious residential community for seniors (55 years and above) marks the entry of Mantri Developers into senior living segment.

In the retail space we have one of South Indias most prominent and one of the largest malls in the country. The Mantri Square in Bangalore is spread over an astonishing 1.7 million sq. ft. of space, and hosts over 250 retail outlets. The company is also on the threshold of creating further landmarks in retail. Mantri Developers has also left its mark in the commercial office space segment. We have changed the landscape with a host of premium & ultra-modern complexes. The company has also recently made a foray into the high-growth area of office leasing apart from Bangalore in Pune and Hyderabad which is spread over 11 mn sq ft.

What is the total area under development? Mantri Developers is one of the leading players in South India. We have a very diversified portfolio of services that we offer. Currently, our portfolio is spread across 20 million sq. ft. which includes 11 million sq.ft in the residential, retail, office, hospitality and townships. These projects are under various stages of the construction.

In our residential segment we have various kinds of projects under development. It consists of villas, row houses, super luxury apartments, luxury apartments and semi-luxury Apartments. The Company has an enviable track record of having delivered 1.4 homes, every single day. Environmental management and safety standards are a major concern at our company and we are at the forefront of using cutting-edge technological innovations like home automation systems to complement the state-of-the-art architecture of its smart home projects.

What price scenario do you see in Mumbai and other cities? On the whole, 2013 proved to be an exciting and eventful year for the real estate market in the country. With the passing of Real Estate Regulatory Bill and the Land Acquisition Bill in the parliament, the real estate market is on the cusp of new developments. We are hoping that these new regulations will bring some stability in the sector.

With respect to Mumbai, the real estate in the city is bit fragmented owing to the geographical conditions (its an island city) and hence there are pockets of markets that have emerged over a period of time. These pockets are unique and have their own characteristics as a result of which we have some high growth pockets and some slow growth ones. Affordable housing is proving to be a big challenge in the city as the land prices are sky rocketing in the city.

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Raghuvinder Pathania, AVP Sales & Marketing, Mantri Developers

With funding secured and construction companies readying their crews, work to convert the long-abandoned, 1.4-million-square-foot Sears Crosstown building into a "vertical urban village" with health-care, arts, education, retail, and residential space should begin this spring.

But for our April 29, 1999, issue, when the building was nothing more than a hulking, big empty, we held a contest asking our readers what they'd like to see fill the space. Those with the 10 best answers were awarded a Flyer T-shirt.

Answers were all over the place, but reader Joel Edlin had perhaps the most far-fetched idea: "Turn it into a BIG ASS JAIL. Bet we could fill it up, just like Sears did on August 8, 1927, with 47,000 customers."

Adrienne Faires thought the building would make a nice American Red Cross distribution and training center, while Oscar F. Williams envisioned the Crosstown building as a hotel that would help Memphis attract more conventions.

Les Poppenheimer had visions of suburbia in the inner city with dreams of a Crosstown outlet mall with one retailer per floor. Fabian Baron saw the place as a future subsidized senior living center, where seniors paid rent based on their incomes.

Jay C. Schechtman thought we could use the Crosstown building for a little worldwide philanthropy by converting the building into the Southern Trading Center, where we would "display the products and services of South America, Africa, South Asia, and Australia. We could create jobs in Memphis, and assist underdeveloped countries [in] securing a foothold in American trade."

When the renovated Crosstown building opens in 2016, there will be an educational component with the Memphis Teacher Residency and Rhodes College setting up office space inside. Long-time (and now deceased) Flyer reader and letter-writer Arthur Prince may have glanced into the future with his idea of turning the building into an institute of higher education, or a "tower of learning," as Prince wrote.

Frank Crumby wasn't terribly far off from today's plans of including residential and retail space, but in his plan, the entire building would have been devoted to luxury living.

"Her new name would be The Evergreens. She would be a mix of upscale spacious condos on the top floors and the tower, apartments on the middle floors, and retail [which] would feature services to appeal to the large number of residents, such as dry cleaners, hair salons, convenience stores, etc. The building also offers plenty of space for a spa, indoor pool, and racquetball. The Evergreens could be the ultimate address," Crumby wrote.

If we had been gamblers back in 1999, we should have bet on the suggestions of Harold F. Keuper and Brantley Ellzey. While the current plans for Crosstown include the medical industry namely the Church Health Center and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital offices it's being fused with an arts component. Inside the building, there will be artist working spaces and studios, an art gallery, and performance space.

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Crosstown: A Big Ass Jail?

Bottega Americana partners (from left) Greg Van de Velde, Dave Warner, Giuseppe Ciuffa, and Chad Ruyle in the East Village space slated to become a restaurant and urban marketplace.

London has its Harrods food hall, Paris its Le Bon March Grand Epiciere, New York its Eataly. This summer, San Diegos East Village will have Bottega Americano, a first-of-its kind foodery inspired by those urban marketplaces.

The Bottega project combines a moderately-priced sit-down restaurant, interactive culinary stations, gourmet retail space, grab-and-go dining options, a bar, patio and private indoor/outdoor space for weddings, parties and corporate events.

Bottega Americano will use patio space at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law for private events. Eduardo Contreras

The $3 million, approximately 8,000-square-foot marketplace, located on the first floor of the Thomas Jefferson School of Law building on Island Avenue, is two blocks north of the new Central Library and is at the epicenter of downtowns residential and commercial construction boom.

During a tour of the still-under-construction space Tuesday, Bottega Americanos four partners said they expect the project to draw from the neighborhoods burgeoning condo and rental developments, new corporate offices, tourists, as well as residents from throughout the county.

When it opens, well be the first ones to do something like this, culinarily, said chef Giuseppe Ciuffa, founder of Giuseppe Restaurants & Fine Catering. Where else can you get a complete meal to go and have a high-quality full sit-down space all under one roof?

The menu and prepared food will be produce-driven, urban Italian with an American twist, with pizza, cured meats, fresh mozzarella, Italian wine and specialty coffees among the expected offerings.

Unlike other food halls, like Eataly, where customers have to order at separate counters or buy products from different vendors, Bottega Americanos retail will be under one umbrella and customers can order off a master menu.

Youre going into a culinary blind date when you come here, joked Ciuffa. Quickly chiming in was partner and fellow chef David Warner: But were very good matchmakers.

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East Village 'foodery' on menu

FITCHBURG At North and Main streets, where downtown Fitchburg meets Fitchburg State University, is a partially empty lot with dilapidated buildings the city has been talking about developing for years.

It will finally get a face-lift this summer.

Some officials were hoping for a mixed-use development of residential and commercial/retail space at the site. But, after years of no action, some councilors say they'll take just the business as long as something goes in there.

At Tuesday night's council meeting, Dan Curley, executive director of the Fitchburg Redevelopment Authority, updated councilors on the project. Some were unaware that construction will begin, with or without the upper floors for housing, in August.

Developer Edward "Ted" C. Carman Jr. pulled together nearly $1 million in financing for the construction of a multistory building that would include retail space on the first floor and 62 units of market-rate housing on the upper floors and already signed a contract with a major national retailer.

But to develop the housing portion of the project, Mr. Curley said, Mr. Carman is awaiting approval for financing under the New Markets Tax Credit Program. The program attracts investment capital to low-income communities by permitting individual and corporate investors to receive a federal tax credit.

"It is the last hurdle," Mr. Curley said. "It is contingent on new markets tax credit financing.

"Plan B is, if the financing is not in place by August, they'll go with a free-standing retail building. Either way, the shovel is in the ground in August."

Councilor Marcus DiNatale appeared surprised that the latter was "plan B."

"Bring on plan B," he said. "We have enough housing in downtown."

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Partly empty lot in Fitchburg will get makeover

3833 Roswell Road

3833 Roswell Road, Atlanta, GA 30342

2,655 SF$0.09/sf/year ($21 per month)

Office, Medical Office, Retail

Tuxedo Atrium is a well-known North Buckhead landmark on Roswell Road near Piedmont Road. The property offers monumental signage with high exposure visibility and covered parking for your clients and employees. The impressive one-story, approximately 28,182 sq ft building has high-end office and retail tenants catering to the affluent Buckhead neighborhood clientele. The Buckhead area is one of the most sought-after office, retail and residential areas in the city of Atlanta. Buckhead offers one of the highest family incomes in the Southeast with incomes averaging in excess of $138,000 within a three mile radius. Buckhead is one of Georgias second largest downtown, with three-fourths as much office space as downtown Atlanta, with approximately 1,400 retail outlets, grossing more than $1 billion in annual sales. Buckhead contains only a little more than 2 percent of the Atlanta regions single family housing, but almost 40 percent of the regions supply of homes valued at over $500,000. Atlantas three wealthiest zip codes are in Buckhead. Office Spaces Available: Suite 110 - 2,655 sq ft; Lease Rate $21.00/sq ft Full Service Suite 105 - 1,815 sq ft; Lease Rate $21.00/sq ft Full Service

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Atlanta Retail Space - Real Estate Revival

More medical-related space is scheduled to open in Orlando next year than in at least the previous four years combined, a new report shows.

Cushman & Wakefield this week released its first report tracking the medical office market for the four-county Orlando metropolitan area and projected that more than 2 million square feet of hospital and health-care office space will open in the region next year. Typically, the market gets about a fifth of that amount.

"Just about every hospital is adding new towers," said Anne Spencer, a Cushman & Wakefield director who compiled the report over the course of a year. "Most of the new construction over the next 12 to 24 months will be done by a hospital system, not by physicians' groups."

Construction includes new Florida Hospital facilities in Apopka and south of Winter Garden. In addition, about 100,000 square feet of medical office space is to come on line at Lake Nona's Medical City in southeast Orlando. The 46-page report includes construction of both hospitals and doctors' offices but focuses primarily on vacancies and lease rates for about 11 million square feet of medical offices within Orange, Lake, Seminole an Osceola counties.

The Orlando office of the real-estate brokerage expects to release quarterly reports tracking the amount of medical-related office space in the market an indication of the growth of that specialty market with construction at Medical City and the expansion of Florida Hospital throughout the region.

Tampa-based RJ King & Associates specializes in medical office properties in Tampa and Orlando and tracks the sector, but the new Cushman and Wakefield report goes further in looking at the emerging trend of retail-style medical offices that are closer to patients' homes than to hospitals.

"It's changing," Spencer said. "Historically, medical offices were always built near hospitals. But now, with the advancement of technology, we're seeing a lot of ambulatory surgery centers and other medical go into retail [space]."

The decentralization of medical space not only puts physicians closer to patients, it also allows them greater marketing opportunities by putting their names on buildings, she added.

In other parts of the country, Spencer said, the amount of medical space is contracting but population growth in the Orlando area has driven the need for more health-related real estate.

Owen Beitsch, senior principal for Real Estate Consultants in Orlando, said the health-care landscape is changing so quickly, from the national level down, that it's difficult to predict how medical needs will be met in the future. But it has been evident in recent years that physicians have had a growing presence in satellite offices in the suburbs, he added.

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Health-care space growing quickly in Orlando, report finds

The four-story building had been a headache - and a biohazard bonanza, with mold, fungi, vermin, asbestos and other problems - for neighbors, including the Freire Charter School.

The high school shared a wall with the annex, and school administrators had pleaded for years with the city - the Redevelopment Authority had owned it since 1993 - to remediate or raze the hazardous hellhole.

At last week's groundbreaking, Freire's student-body president, Tyrone Williams, thanked the developers and politicians gathered, including Mayor Nutter, City Council President Darrell Clarke and Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell.

"In a world where money and profits seem to be the focus, it is refreshing when you see the focus being placed on bettering the community," Williams said.

Aquinas Realty Partners bought the site from the city for $800,000 and named the project AQ Rittenhouse.

The 12-story tower will include space for Freire, a bicycle-repair shop and storage, rooftop grills and fire pits, a center courtyard, a 24-hour doorman and concierge, a Wi-Fi cafe, a restaurant and other ground-level retail.

It's expected to be completed this fall.

Center City is Philadelphia's fastest-growing residential neighborhood, according to the Center City District. Residential population downtown grew by more than 10 percent from 2001 to 2011, the district found in a 2011 report.

On Twitter: @DanaDiFilippo

Blog: phillyconfidential.com

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From hell to heaven: Problem property razed for luxury apartments

| Published 04/10/14 10:44pm

C hapel Hill and Carrboro should consider implementing tax-based incentives to promote the development of additional office space.

With businesses struggling to find suitable office space in the two municipalities, this would help to offset some of the inconveniences of local bureaucracy that make building office space so unattractive to developers.

The extended time that it takes to get projects approved by the local governments is one such significant barrier to development.

The incentives, while initially decreasing the municipalities tax revenue, would ultimately have a positive impact on the local economy.

Additional office space would attract new businesses to the area while also ensuring that some businesses wouldnt be enticed to leave when trying to find space to expand. The additional economic activity provided by these firms, which could be taxed, would make up for any funds lost during the construction of the buildings.

Recent construction in the area has largely been centered on additional housing and retail space.

While the planned University Square redevelopment pledges to diversify the nature of its buildings use, including office space, other developments such as 140 West Franklin have neglected to allot similar space.

Even a single floor of office space in the latter development could have been hugely beneficial, and with the somewhat slow selling of the condominiums, it doesnt seem as though the residential plan was a complete success.

Businesses looking to relocate to Chapel Hill are essentially at the mercy of developers, and incentivizing these developers to create space for them would benefit both the local economy and the businesses.

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Opinion: Tax incentives for office space would draw more firms

By George C. Ford, The Gazette

With the closing of Westdale Mall and construction of new commercial centers, the retail picture is changing in southwest Cedar Rapids,

Discount Tire, a national tire and wheel retailer, is expanding its Iowa presence with the construction of a 6,947-square-foot store at 3050 Wiley Blvd. SW on the perimeter of Wiley Point, which anchored by an 81,000-square-foot Kohls.

Rob Wise, regional vice president for Discount Tire, said the store will employ about 10 people with a mix of full- and part-time employees. Wise said the store is projected to open around Sept. 1, depending on various conditions and schedules.

The growth of Cedar Rapids among residents and businesses has made it a perfect fit for Discount Tire, Wise said.

The privately-owned Scottsdale, Ariz., company sells the Goodyear, Michelin, Bridgestone, Yokohama, Kumho, BFGoodrich, Pirelli, Hankook, Falken, Fisk and GT Radial brands. Founded in 1960, Discount Tire has grown to more than 870 stores in 28 states.

Discount Tire opened a store last fall in the former Sears Auto space at Coral Ridge Mall. It previously opened two stores in Davenport.

Wise said Iowans should expect to see additional Discount Tire locations in coming years.

Contractors are preparing a 5,800-square-foot space in Edgewood Station at 2320 Edgewood Rd. SW for Elevate, formerly City Looks at Westdale Mall. The salon and spa, which will close April 26 and plans to open April 29 at its new location, was granted a reprieve when the mall doors were locked on March 31.

Gerry Ambrose, co-owner and developer of Edgewood Station, said a lease has been finalized with General Nutrition Center, a former Westdale tenant, for the remaining space in Edgewood Station.

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Retail changes coming in Cedar Rapids

Macro Economy Has Been Non-Conducive For The Retail Sector

Over the last 6-8 quarters, the retail sector in India has been subject to immense pressures from a slowing economy, stagnancy in jobs and incomes, and lack of stimulus from government policies. More recently, Indias quarterly GDP consistently fell short of the 5.0% y/y growth mark, which was the average growth recorded for the last financial year FY2012-13. For FY2013-14, the economic growth rate is expected to come in at less than that observed in the previous year.

Private consumption expenditure, which is a critical component accounting for over 60% of Indias GDP, saw a growth slump, recording not more than 3.0% y/y growth in the recent four quarters. Lack of confidence among the consuming class due to compromised job prospects and income growth has led a rising proportion of income going towards secure savings rather than consumption spending. High inflation and borrowing rates further derailed hopes of an early recovery. Moderated consumption spending and high inflation has had a direct impact on the retail sector, whose growth momentum has been falling sharply.

Lack Of Policy Stimulus & Demand-Centric Mall Development

Mall space absorption continued to remain weak in 2013 from the low levels observed in 2012 across the leading seven cities of India. Factors that were responsible were a poor policy framework and the lack of new mall construction. In the last 6-8 quarters, retail has been subject to difficulties on the policy front, as progress on retail sector FDI hung in the balance. While the ruling government was in favour of liberal reforms in FDI policy, stiff opposition from other political parties gave foreign retailers reason to remain cautious. Also, with the upcoming elections threatening to overthrow the current ruling alliance, withholding investment decisions retailers was probably the best option available to retailers at this time.

While the external environment plays a huge role in demand for retail space, supply is an important consideration too. Premium fashion brands that enter India have had difficulties in finding quality mall space. Major Tier-I cities of Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore witnessed a fall in supply of quality malls as developers responded to the current situation by holding on to project completions. Retailers responded by either looking for spaces in quality high streets or by delaying entry completely.

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JLL: Retail Real Estate Awaiting An Upswing