<p>The Covid-19 pandemic changed many things for real estate buyers and developers. In a wide-ranging interview, Brigade Group Joint Managing Director Nirupa Shankar told <em>DH’s</em> Lavpreet Kaur all about the changes, especially the rise in demand for plotted projects. Edited excerpts.</p>.<p><strong>How are your retail and hospitality arms doing after the pandemic?</strong></p>.<p>Hotels are doing better, the rates are better, occupancy is better than pre-Covid (times). Retail malls are flourishing, but I know that things can change and you’re not going to be riding on a high horse at that point. Earlier, business cycles were longer, maybe seven to eight years and then you’ll have a dip. Now, business cycles are shortening to like every four or five years.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/how-millennials-are-redefining-the-indian-housing-sector-1162020.html" target="_blank">How millennials are redefining the Indian housing sector</a></strong></p>.<p>We have had pretty tough cycles with GST, then RERA, then demonetisation, then we had the pandemic and now we have the US and Europe recession. I think what the pandemic has taught us is how do you, how do you ride the wave in the bad times.</p>.<p><strong>What are your plans for your hospitality portfolio?</strong></p>.<p>Right now, the going is good. Healthy trend for at least six to eight months. In the pandemic, we had put a couple of hotels on hold, so we are restarting building them. There are four hotels in the pipeline.</p>.<p><strong>Has the rise of the ‘work from anywhere’ concept affected your office portfolio?</strong></p>.<p>Prior to the pandemic, the coworking or flexible office space or collaborative spaces was maybe 5-7 per cent of the total absorption. But due to the pandemic, they are getting about 20-25 per cent of the overall market share. It might even go up to 30-35 per cent. But 100 per cent cannot go into coworking.</p>.<p><strong>Have tenants made any specific demands about office design?</strong></p>.<p>One tenant asked, ‘Can I bring Goa into the office?’ They want to make the office space a lot more fun to bring in more people. There's a lot of talk on bringing food, fun and activities into the office space.</p>.<p><strong>What will the future of office spaces look like?</strong></p>.<p>What might change is having a hub-and-spoke model. People are going to live close to their workspace, or they're going to work from a place close to their home.</p>.<p><strong>Are Indians still keen on buying real estate?</strong></p>.<p>Jewellery and a home are the two biggest investment classes, and I think that remains. Aspirationally people are just looking for a better-quality product. Plotted development projects seem to be getting the most amount of traction. People want their own plot of land. That’s a post Covid-19 trend.</p>.<p><strong>Are consumers willing to pay a premium for green projects?</strong></p>.<p>They may not be willing to pay a premium for it. It’s become a requirement. It’s not like I am willing to give you 10 per cent more if you are ‘Platinum LEED Certified’. That is a requirement, and then I’ll negotiate with you on market rentals. Nobody is going to give you extra because you’re recycling more, but you can use it as a USP.</p>.<p><strong>What do you think about the future of malls in India?</strong></p>.<p>There's a huge gap because India doesn't have too many grade-A malls. It's still a fairly unorganised player, people still go to the markets and the bazaars, more so than formal retail malls. So, I think there's a huge growth story there, especially in tier-2 and tier-3 markets.</p>
<p>The Covid-19 pandemic changed many things for real estate buyers and developers. In a wide-ranging interview, Brigade Group Joint Managing Director Nirupa Shankar told <em>DH’s</em> Lavpreet Kaur all about the changes, especially the rise in demand for plotted projects. Edited excerpts.</p>.<p><strong>How are your retail and hospitality arms doing after the pandemic?</strong></p>.<p>Hotels are doing better, the rates are better, occupancy is better than pre-Covid (times). Retail malls are flourishing, but I know that things can change and you’re not going to be riding on a high horse at that point. Earlier, business cycles were longer, maybe seven to eight years and then you’ll have a dip. Now, business cycles are shortening to like every four or five years.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/how-millennials-are-redefining-the-indian-housing-sector-1162020.html" target="_blank">How millennials are redefining the Indian housing sector</a></strong></p>.<p>We have had pretty tough cycles with GST, then RERA, then demonetisation, then we had the pandemic and now we have the US and Europe recession. I think what the pandemic has taught us is how do you, how do you ride the wave in the bad times.</p>.<p><strong>What are your plans for your hospitality portfolio?</strong></p>.<p>Right now, the going is good. Healthy trend for at least six to eight months. In the pandemic, we had put a couple of hotels on hold, so we are restarting building them. There are four hotels in the pipeline.</p>.<p><strong>Has the rise of the ‘work from anywhere’ concept affected your office portfolio?</strong></p>.<p>Prior to the pandemic, the coworking or flexible office space or collaborative spaces was maybe 5-7 per cent of the total absorption. But due to the pandemic, they are getting about 20-25 per cent of the overall market share. It might even go up to 30-35 per cent. But 100 per cent cannot go into coworking.</p>.<p><strong>Have tenants made any specific demands about office design?</strong></p>.<p>One tenant asked, ‘Can I bring Goa into the office?’ They want to make the office space a lot more fun to bring in more people. There's a lot of talk on bringing food, fun and activities into the office space.</p>.<p><strong>What will the future of office spaces look like?</strong></p>.<p>What might change is having a hub-and-spoke model. People are going to live close to their workspace, or they're going to work from a place close to their home.</p>.<p><strong>Are Indians still keen on buying real estate?</strong></p>.<p>Jewellery and a home are the two biggest investment classes, and I think that remains. Aspirationally people are just looking for a better-quality product. Plotted development projects seem to be getting the most amount of traction. People want their own plot of land. That’s a post Covid-19 trend.</p>.<p><strong>Are consumers willing to pay a premium for green projects?</strong></p>.<p>They may not be willing to pay a premium for it. It’s become a requirement. It’s not like I am willing to give you 10 per cent more if you are ‘Platinum LEED Certified’. That is a requirement, and then I’ll negotiate with you on market rentals. Nobody is going to give you extra because you’re recycling more, but you can use it as a USP.</p>.<p><strong>What do you think about the future of malls in India?</strong></p>.<p>There's a huge gap because India doesn't have too many grade-A malls. It's still a fairly unorganised player, people still go to the markets and the bazaars, more so than formal retail malls. So, I think there's a huge growth story there, especially in tier-2 and tier-3 markets.</p>