BENGALURU: GLOBAL investment firm Xander which has invested $600 million through its venture, Surat-based Virtuous Retail (VR) has opened its first mall in Bengaluru. VR is a retail real estate asset platform owned by Xander.
Xander Group Inc. is an emerging markets institutional investment firm. It currently manages equity capital of over $2 billion. Since its foray into India in 2005, the Xander Group has invested $2 billion in various realty assets including residential, office space, warehousing and hospitality.
The mall, VR Bengaluru, which has floor space of nine lakh sq ft, is now up and running. The investment is aimed at developing a pan-India portfolio of retail, luxury and community centres.
Rajiv Raichand, director, Virtuous Retail told Express, “VR will develop five million sq ft of retail space. Our three flagship integrated retail projects are in Surat, Bengaluru and Chennai.” It plans to have two joint ventures in Pune and Mumbai.
In Chennai it is building an integrated project. He claims that VR believes in owning the land on which it develops projects. Hence, the lands on which the Surat, Bengaluru and Chennai projects stand were bought by the company. This is unlike most current commercial developments where the land is not owned by the developer.
The commercial real estate sector is witnessing increased interest from private equity funds, with several institutions focusing on completed and leased commercial assets for investment.
90% space taken up
The project in Bengaluru, already has over 90 per cent of its retail space taken up. In addition, it also has a co-working space and a hotel and residence, The Waverly.