The upcoming visit by Donald Trump Jr. to Kolkata this month, where a residential project is coming up under the Trump brand, may stir up the luxury housing segment in a city where business has remained damp for some time now.
Being projected as a coveted brand to be possessed by a privileged few, Trump Tower, on the city’s Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, comprises 136 units of luxury apartments in a G plus 38-storey-high structure. It overlooks the wetlands.
More than 50% of the apartments, which come with valet services and in-residence catering, have been sold, said sources with knowledge of the development.
Trump Tower Kolkata is being developed jointly by Tribeca, Unimark and RDB, an alliance forged in 2016. Trump Tower projects have already come up in Mumbai and Pune. The project in NCR is under development.
Trump Tower Kolkata is scheduled to be completed in three years with each unit priced between ₹3.5 and ₹5.5 crore.
Another upcoming project is The 42, Kolkata’s tallest upcoming residential towers, which is a 64-storey-high building, at the southern end of the city’s commercial district. “We are offering a panoramic view,” said Amarnath Shroff, chairman, Alcove Realty which is building this luxury project.
Nandu Belani, president of the Bengal arm of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India CREDAI, the apex builders organisation, said signature buildings like Trump Tower was good for Kolkata. “It will add to the folio of the city’s luxury properties, while raising benchmarks and benefiting the customer,” he said.
Track record
Commenting on emergence of branded residential properties, A. S. Sivaramakrishnan, head, residential services of real estate consultancy CBRE, said “although such properties are created to act as a differentiator, giving a feeling of privilege, what matters is the track record of the developer and his ability to deliver quality product on time.”
He said that price trends had softened in the luxury market although new momentum was being generated in markets like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and in the NCR region now.
