Embassy Group and Ivanhoé Cambridge, a subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, one of Canada's leading institutional fund managers, have announced their partnership to launch an investment platform focused on office business parks in campus based and mixed use environments in India. The Embassy Group will lead all real estate development, project management, leasing and operations, while Ivanhoé Cambridge will leverage their expertise in investment.
The platform will invest in develop-to-core and acquisition of partially developed business park opportunities to cater to the preferences of the millennial workforce in providing flexible workplaces and building sustainable communities across key Indian urban centres. The platform will have an investment capacity of US$ 500M with Ivanhoé Cambridge and Embassy investing in an 80:20 ratio, with an initial focus on the Southern Indian markets of Bengaluru & Chennai. The concept aims at meeting the demand in the expansion of Global Capability Centres and Research and Development Campuses.
The seed asset for the platform will be the first phase of the 60-acre Embassy East Business Park located in Whitefield Main Road in Bengaluru. The first phase will be developed on a land parcel of 9 acres, with a gross leasable area of 1.3 million sq ft. The upcoming Business Park boasts of a mixed-use community offering co-living, essential retail and amenities which will create a vibrant ‘work-live-play’ experience for the occupiers. With its prominent location in the growth corridor on the ITPL Main Road, the Business Park will have a direct commuter access to the upcoming ITPL metro station, connecting the park seamlessly to Bangalore’s CBD and will be complemented by accessibility to social infrastructure including a renowned list of educational institutes, hospitals and hotels. The first phase of the project is expected to be ready for occupancy by early 2024.
“This new venture with Embassy will allow us to reinforce our presence in India, a key country in our diversification strategy in Asia,” commented Karim Habra, Head of Europe & Asia-Pacific at Ivanhoé Cambridge. “Over the last couple of decades, several global corporations have acknowledged India as a scalable global innovation hub catalyzed by a deep, world-class talent pool. We anticipate this trend to accelerate thus supporting long term demand for sustainable, class A offices in mixed use campus environments,” he added.
Chanakya Chakravarti, Managing Director, India, at Ivanhoé Cambridge, explained “The healthy build-to-core economics, quality tenant covenants, deepening secondary markets and overall market formalization make for an interesting opportunity. We look forward to collaborating with Embassy, an experienced developer with a formidable execution track record across market cycles, in expanding our portfolio and supporting the continued institutionalization of the Indian RE sector.”
Speaking on the partnership with Ivanhoé Cambridge, Jitu Virwani, Chairman and Managing Director, Embassy Group, said, “This partnership of Embassy Group and Ivanhoé Cambridge is a strategic step towards transforming the commercial real estate landscape in India. Through the Embassy-Ivanhoe commercial office platform, we aspire to develop state-of-the-art business parks in India. We aim to continue delivering a differentiated and holistic workspace ecosystem by integrating concepts like co-living and co-working, expansive office spaces, and easy to access amenities. We are happy to launch the first phase of the Embassy East Business Park, to kick off this strategic alliance with Ivanhoe Cambridge and look forward to a mutually rewarding relationship.”
