A premium car at your doorstep to drop you at the airport. A business-class ticket and five-star accommodation. Your day begins at the golf course and ends in a fine-dining restaurant with a selected few. This is not a scene from a typical Bollywood movie. This is how invitation-only properties work.
Welcome to the world of luxury real estate.
Understanding invitation-only properties
The premium housing segment is constantly evolving. From uber-luxury homes to swanky sky villas to branded residences – this segment has come a long way. Beyond all this is invitation-only properties.
In simple words, these are premium residences built for the elite. Invitation-only properties exclude a large segment of buyers and are not accessible to everyone. It is a tag that is often used to woo HNIs and UHNIs.
The selection criteria
So, how are the buyers selected? Wealth alone? Well, not really.
In addition to wealth, you must also have a certain social status. These residences are built for the crème layer of the society – CEOs, business tycoons, industrialists, etc.
The developer creates a list of people he thinks would ‘add value’ to the project and then reaches out to them individually for a meeting.
Ankit Shukla, Cluster Head (luxury projects) for the Prestige Group, often spends his mornings on the golf course or a star hotel meeting potential buyers.
“In these meetings, we never talk about the prices. The property discussion is limited to just a few minutes. The rest of the time is spent in profiling the customer.”
Unlike regular real estate projects, these projects are never advertised or marketed.
The fancy invitation
The invites are highly personalised. It is usually by phone, a mail, or word-of-mouth.
“Another way of reaching out to HNIs is to connect with them at some of the elite clubs or events. Or through their wealth managers,” informs Shukla.
Along with the personalised invites, Shukla makes sure he sends something of value like premium tea, Swarovski pieces or anything that reflects luxury. “We don’t sell these projects. It is entirely a pull strategy,” he adds.
The prices
The prices of such properties easily cross the Rs 40 Crore mark or even more.
Shukla explains, “The price is not for the location or project but is for the exclusivity which HNIs look for in their homes. The quality of the construction, fixtures, and the security provisions are, of course, top-notch.”
Geographies
These projects can be found only in leading metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, and Bangalore.
Amenities
An invitation-only project would include:
- In-suite or rooftop swimming pools
- 6-8 parking slots per unit
- Concierge services
- Private elevators and pools
- Best-in-class security measures
Closing the deal
There is no hurry to sell a unit in these projects. It might take anywhere between six months to one year or even more to close such deals. Unlike regular projects, no follow-up calls are made to customers.
And the buyer also will need time to consider the profile of the neighbours and project exclusivity.
The projects
Are you curious now about some of these invitation-only projects?
DLF Magnolias – Delhi
Located in Gurgaon’s Sector 42, DLF Magnolias is a premium project by DLF Group. It offers 4 and 5BHK apartments in the size range of 5,825 – 9,800 sq. ft. The starting price for these plush apartments is Rs 14 Crore and goes up to Rs 24.5 Crore.
Embassy Boulevard – Bangalore
Spread across 51-acre, Embassy Boulevard is an invitation-only project by the Embassy Group. It offers 170 spacious villas in 4 and 5BHK configuration nestled between tree-lined avenues and landscaped gardens. The size of these villas varies between 4,000-7,400 sq. ft.
The amenities include round the clock concierge service, 28 parks, 5 acres of lung space, 1,00,000 sq. ft. clubhouse, private heated pool for each villa, and a private elevator. Being a resident of Embassy Boulevard gives direct access to Stonehill International School and the Embassy International Riding School.
The starting price for the villas here is Rs 8 Crore.
Buckingham Gardens – Chennai
This project offers just 17 villas amidst 10 acres. It is situated on the banks of the Buckingham Canal on the East Coast Road.
The amenities include a private pier where you can enjoy water sports and fishing in the Buckingham Canal, a clubhouse with indoor and outdoor deck lounges, housekeeping and gardening services along with an on-call plumber, electrician and carpenter, exclusive organic garden, open-air Jacuzzi, and many more.
Yoo Villas – Pune
Panchshil Realty’s Yoo Villas offers 80 villas. Out of these, 17 villas cost about Rs 30 Crore each. The project has a 400 ft. circular ramp where Manish Malhotra hosted his fashion show in March this year.
Kingfisher Towers – Bangalore
Kingfisher Towers is another such project in Bangalore. It offers 81 apartments and a 40,000 sq. ft mansion-style penthouse and is the city’s most expensive residential project. The project is an extension of UB City.
While the units in the Kingfisher Towers are ready-to-occupy, Prestige Group is building residences at Hermitage, a city-centre project that shares its entrance with Conrad, a luxury hotel by Hilton. The residences here will include a 500 sq. ft. private lift lobby.
More invitation-only projects in the future
While a popular trend abroad, invitation-only projects are still in a nascent stage in Indian markets. But luxury developers are raising the stakes with exclusive elements in their projects.
For instance, Lodha Altamount in Mumbai has the original 1937 Picasso, La Plage, Juan-le-Pins in the tea room. With an increasing number of HNIs and UHNIs, invitation-only properties are here to stay!
There is real estate and there is ultra-luxurious real estate. Then there property that is out of bounds for even for the well-heeled, and the information about it is available only to a handful of privileged ‘insiders’. Such properties come under the category of ‘by invitation only’ residences, and one has to belong to a particular stratum of society to be even considered as a potential buyer. This is a category of luxury real estate where aspiring buyers must prove their worth to the developer in ways that transcend the ability to pay unheard-of sums of money.
There is real estate and there is ultra-luxurious real estate. Then there property that is out of bounds for even for the well-heeled, and the information about it is available only to a handful of privileged ‘insiders’. Such properties come under the category of ‘by invitation only’ residences, and one has to belong to a particular stratum of society to be even considered as a potential buyer.
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