The Merlin Group enters Pune and will spend Rs 2,000 crore there over the next five years

On July 5, the Kolkata-based Merlin Group made its foray into the Pune real estate market by launching a commercial property with a 1.5 lakh square foot footprint and a 120 crore rupee investment. The company intends to invest a total of Rs 2,000 crore in Pune to build real estate projects covering a total of 30 lakh square feet.

"Over the next five years, we plan to invest 2,000 crore in the Pune market. We are building 1.50 lakh square feet of commercial space as part of our commercial project in Koregaon Park, which would need an investment of about Rs 120 crore. The price per square foot is between Rs11,000 and Rs13,000.

"We will then invest an additional Rs 500 crore in each of the Wakad and Barner areas, where we are building more than 20 lakh square feet. When it comes to the residential category, we will build 2 and 3 bedrooms, according to Saket Mohta, general director of Merlin Group.

The commercial development, 18 East, is situated in Koregaon Park Annexe. It would be 74 metres high and cover 1.5 lakh square feet. The project's construction has started, and it will be finished by 2025. The corporation claims that although the project should be finished by December 2025, the RERA deadline is December 2026.

The tower is anticipated to feature 20 stories, with offices taking up 16 floors and measuring between 569 and 5830 square feet each. There would be Flexi offices included. The structure will also have retail spaces, which will range in size from 1586 square feet to 2026 square feet. Two basements and three levels of podium parking will be included in the project.

The group has more than 30 lakh square feet of anticipated inventory and is looking to increase its presence in Pune's real estate market. The company is developing a number of upscale residential and commercial developments in Jambhulwadi, Wakad, Koregaon Park Annexe, and Baner. Along with Pune, the group is also considering the Chennai market, where 40 million square feet are now being built.

The group is present in Chennai, Raipur, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, and Colombo, Sri Lanka, in addition to developing projects totaling more than 20 million square feet in Kolkata.

When questioned if the group is entering Pune since the real estate market in West Bengal lacks clarity regarding RERA registration, Mohta responded, "We have built malls, IT parks, homes, and commercial developments during the course of our history, which spans almost four decades.

"We have completed over 100 projects and have a landbank of more than 500 acres. More than 20 projects are now underway in Kolkata, and many more are in the queue. Our headquarters are in Kolkata, and we have increased our reach. Pune has a lot of room to grow as a metropolis for the development of real estate.

Pune's real estate market is anticipated to have growth on both the residential and commercial fronts, to the point where total residential sales in 2022 will exceed the average over the previous five years.