Hines to invest $23 million in Tata Housing's project in Mumbai

Global real estate firm Hines will invest USD 23 million (about Rs 150 crore) in Tata Housing's residential project at Thane in Mumbai as part of strategy to expand presence in the Indian property market.

US-based Hines has developed two commercial projects -- One Horizon Center and Skyview Corporate Park -- at Gurgaon in India. It has invested in an upcoming residential project in Gurgaon with Conscient Group.

"Hines has entered into a partnership with Tata Housing to invest USD 23 million towards the development of India's first wellness homes project - Serein," the two companies said in a joint statement.

The project, spread over 7.3 acre, will have four 33- story towers. The starting price of a unit is Rs 1.65 crore.

According to sources, over 600 units would be developed in this project, of which 300 have been launched and 150 have been sold.

Property consultant CBRE South Asia was the advisor for this transaction.

"Our partnership with Hines is in line with our long-term growth strategy of expanding our premium and luxury portfolio with iconic projects at marquee locations across the country," said Brotin Banerjee, CEO and Managing Director, Tata Housing.

The partnership will help in bringing in the global best practices from Hines internationally, he said, adding that the company looks forward to expanding association with Hines for future projects.

"This investment is in line with our thesis of providing equity capital to Tier-I developers on residential projects, catering to the needs of the upper-middle and luxury segments," said Amit Diwan, Senior Director of Investments for Hines India.

This also marks the entry for Hines in Mumbai, and is the first step towards a geographically-diversified India presence for Hines in times to come, he added.

Tata Housing is a closely held public limited company and a subsidiary of Tata Sons. It has 70 million square feet under various stages of planning and execution and an additional 19 million square feet in the pipeline.

Hines is a privately owned global real estate investment firm founded in 1957 with a presence in 201 cities in 21 countries.

Hines has approximately USD 100 billion of assets under management, including USD 54.5 billion for which Hines provides fiduciary investment management services, and USD 45.5 billion for which Hines provides third-party property- level services.

The firm has 113 developments currently underway around the world.