Godrej to sell commercial assets in Chandigarh to reduce debt

Realty firm Godrej Properties Ltd expects to monetise commercial properties worth about Rs 1,500 crore at Mumbai, Kolkata and Chandigarh over the next six months and reduce net debt, which now stands at Rs 3,278 crore. The company is also in discussion with potential partners to add new projects in its portfolio as part of the growth plan, its newly appointed Chairman Pirojsha Godrej said.  Godrej Properties, the real estate arm of Godrej Group, last week announced a major reshuffle in leadership team with Chairman Adi Godrej assuming the Chairman Emeritus role, while Pirojsha was elevated to Executive Chairman from Managing Director and CEO position. “We expect to complete the monetisation of our commercial assets in next six months and the fund will be utilised to reduce our debt. We have sold about Rs 40 crore in BKC project, Mumbai during the December quarter,” he told PTI. 

In September 2015, Godrej Properties had sold 4.35 lakh sq ft of office space at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai for Rs 1,479 crore. It has about 3 lakh sq ft of office space left in BKC project and about 1 million sq ft in Kolkata and Chandigarh, totalling worth about Rs 1,500 crore.  The company’s net debt rose to Rs 3,278 crore in the December quarter from Rs 3,006 crore at September-end.When asked how his elevation would affect the day-to-day operations of the company, he said: “I will still be deeply involved. I will now focus on long-term plan.” In the management reshuffle, Mohit Malhotra has been appointed as the new Managing Director and CEO of the company.  The company’s sales booking rose by 15 per cent to Rs 693 crore during the October-December period of this fiscal compared with previous quarter despite demonetisation but sales were down 43 per cent from the year-ago period, Godrej said.  “There was some impact of demonetisation. But our sales in Greater Noida and Pune projects were very good,” he said. Godrej Properties is developing residential, commercial and township projects spread across 129.56 million sq ft in 12 cities.  

Property management firm of the year

The India arm of CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm, was recently recognised as the Property Management Firm of the Year (North) at the Realty Plus Excellence Awards 2017. This is the sixth time that CBRE has received this award for the North region. Previously, the firm has received this award for West and South region as well. The award was adjudged by a nine-member jury panel of international architects and professionals. 

With almost 4000 professionals, CBRE India manages facilities/properties across 130 cities and towns. CBRE India was the first facilities management service provider in India accredited for Integrated Management Systems (IMS). The company is also certified for ISO 9001 in 2008, ISO 14001 in 2004 and OSHAS 18001-2007. In 2010, it was awarded for Excellence in Workplace Management by the Indian Facility Management Association (IFMA). — Agencies