Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) has announced its first branded villa project at Lonavala near Mumbai expanding its presence in the segment.
The project is spread across 34 acres and will comprise 32 branded villas and a 100-key Taj resort.
“The launch of Mount Kusur Resort & Villas marks our entry into branded villa segment, broadening our portfolio to address evolving consumer preferences while bringing trust, service excellence and legacy of the brand to a new category of luxury real estate,” said IHCL managing director and CEO Puneet Chhatwal.
“The branded villa segment is in a pre-infancy stage and will have a run for the next twenty years,” Chhatwal added with demand coming from high net worth individuals.
Taj Mount Kusur resort and villas are being developed by Amavi, a hospitality backed real estate brand. The branded villas will be offered for sale and leased back to IHCL which will integrate them into the resort inventory.
IHCL has ongoing branded residences projects in Chennai, Noida and Ras Al Khaimah. While Chennai project is expected to be complete in around 15 months, the Noida project would take another 2-3 years.
Amavi is planning branded luxury projects at seven other locations including Rishikesh, Ranthambore, Shimla, Lake Pawna, Alibaug, Karjat and Goa.
“We have invested around ₹300 crore in Mount Kusur project. The first phase has already begun and we will be delivering two to three villas by December,” said Apurv Kumar, Managing Director of Clarks group and Founder, Amavi.