ASK Property Investment Advisors (ASK PIA), the real-estate private equity arm of the ASK Group, has invested Rs 200 crore in real-estate developer Kalpataru Group’s mid-income housing project in Baner, Pune.
This is an ongoing mid-segment residential project, spanning across 16 acres with a saleable area of around 1.9 million sq ft, comprising over 1,200 units across 1 to 3 BHK homes.
Baner is a centrally located residential neighbourhood, with established social and physical infrastructure and close to the Mumbai-Bangalore Highway (NH 48). It has also grown as an IT employment hub, with around 13 million sq ft of IT parks/office complexes, including RMZ Icon and Panchshil Business Park.
“The project is in line with our strategy of providing funds to mid-income housing projects for mid/last mile execution and completion. This is our maiden exposure to the Kalpataru Group, which fulfils our criteria of strong brand reputation, in-house quality construction capabilities, and timely project delivery track record. We are delighted to partner with them, and we look forward to a long-term, mutually beneficial association,” said Amit Bhagat, CEO and MD, ASK PIA.
“The last couple of years have witnessed a consolidation of demand for homes to reputed, execution-focussed and large-scale developers. Affordable and mid-income housing has seen a substantial recovery and prices have bottomed out in the last one year, which has also led to sustainable demand. Decade-low home loan rates, concessions in stamp duty/premiums, and flexibility by developers have increased the affordability for home purchase,” said Sunil Rohokale, MD and CEO, ASK Group.
He said that ASK’s previous investment had done very well in the micro market. We had invested in 2012 and exited in 2016 with an IRR of 26 percent and a 2.55x multiple, and, hence, we are convinced of the opportunity.
ASK PIA is the alternate asset investment arm of the ASK Group, set up to manage and advise dedicated real-estate funds. The focus is on private equity investments in self-liquidating mid-income and affordable residential and commercial segments. It has raised around Rs 5,000 crore since 2009 and investors include Family Offices, Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNI), High Net Worth Individual (HNI) and Institutions.