GREATER NOIDA: CBRE, the global commercial real estate services company, was on Monday appointed consultant for the UP government’s ambitious Film City planned in Greater Noida, the second largest infrastructure project in the region after the international airport in Jewar.
CBRE, said officials, has been given the task of preparing the detailed project report and drawing up a plan to make the Infotainment-cum-Film City – planned over 1,000 acres, just 6km from the site of the upcoming airport – financially viable and successful.
CBRE was chosen from among four companies that were shortlisted to prepare a blueprint for the Film City after technical and price bid evaluations. “The consultant has been given a 60-day window to compile the detailed feasibility study. It should get ready before February 13,” said Arun Vir Singh, CEO of the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), the government agency that is in charge of the project.
In its presentation to YEIDA last Friday, officials shared, CBRE shared four case studies. While two of them were of large theme parks being planned in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, the other two focused on a film studio (Giant Studios) in Dublin and a sound stage in California.
The development model for the Film City project is expected to be the same as that of the Jewar international airport, for which Zurich AG has been appointed concessionaire. For the Film City too, YEIDA is planning to float global tenders and offering land on a long-term lease under a concession agreement.
To be developed in Sector 21, 780 acres of the land parcel are expected to be dedicated to the development of a film production hub while the remaining quantum will be used for commercial purposes.
Singh said as a Fortune 500 company, CBRE would bring its global exposure and experience to the table, which is required to make the Film City financially viable. “We have asked them to share the revenue models of similar projects that have been designed over a large land parcel. Having an entertainment and amusement park can be also considered if it brings in enough footfall along with revenues. Besides, they will liaison with local and international studios to find out if they are interested in moving to the national capital region,” said Singh while elaborating on the brief given to CBRE South Asia Pvt Ltd.
The Film City is a pet project of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who met several Bollywood filmmakers before announcing the project, and also recently visited Mumbai for further talks and suggestions. The progress made on the airport front in Jewar, where the site for the first phase is expected to be handed over to Zurich AG by mid-2021 after rehabilitating families from whom land was acquired, has spurred optimism about the Film City, which will enjoy a strategic position when both projects become operational. The Jewar airport is chasing an April 2023 launch date.