Largest ever investment in Mumbai based real estate company

JP Morgan arm invests in Lodha Builders

MUMBAI: JP Morgan's Principal Real Estate Investments arm has invested Rs 274 crore ($60 million) in a property project with Lodha Builders. This is the largest ever investment in a project of a Mumbai-based real estate company. The investment is in Lodha Bellissimo, a premium residential property being developed at Apollo Mills, Mahalaxmi in one of the mill lands sold by the National Textile Corporation. J P Morgan will invest in the project as debt and pick up a small stake in the company. The total cost of the project is over Rs 800 crore. In return, Lodha will give a fixed return on the investment to J P Morgan till its investment is paid off. "This is a structured equity investment," said Abhishek Lodha, director, Lodha Developers. Lodha Builders is one of the largest property developers in Mumbai with current projects totalling 7 million sq ft in floor space and a pipeline of over 25 million sq ft. The company undertakes retail, office and residential projects, with emphasis on integrated mixed-use developments. Commenting on the development, Tyler E. Goodwin, vice-president of J P Morgan and responsible for investing in real estate across Asia excluding China, said:"J P Morgan is very excited about this partnership with Lodha Builders. We have invested significant time and effort in understanding the market and the key players." Abhinandan Lodha, director finance, Lodha Builders, said:"We are in a phase of aggressive expansion across western and southern India, with a focus on premium residential as well as retail and office space projects. We are very happy to partner with J P Morgan for one of our premium projects, as this gives us the ability to access resources to fuel our growth plans which will make us amongst the top 5 real estate developers in the county by 2008." Bellissimo is coming up on the 7.5 acre mill land Lodha purchased for Rs 180 crore in June last year. The property is expected to be completed by the year 2009. Booking for the project, which started at around Rs 10,000 per square feet, is now being marketed at Rs 15,000. The group has also earmarked Rs 4,500 crore for land acquisition in the next 18 months. With over 2000 acre of land bank, Lodha is developing an 80 acre IT special economic zone (SEZ) and an 800 acre textile SEZ outside Mumbai. "Hospitality will be our next venture. And, it will take our presence across all formats including residential, commercial and retail," Lodha said.