Nitesh Shetty, Bangalore’s youngest real estate tycoon is the poster child of India’s new entrepreneurial talent. With just Rs12000 (US $304) and an abundance of ambitious flair, he set up Serve & Volley Outdoor in 1997 at the age of 20. The company has grown to be one of the largest outdoor publicity companies in India. Even as Shetty pushed himself and his company that extra yard to achieve success, the booming real estate market presented a challenge that he felt compelled to take up. The initial break came when a few landowners recognized his potential and entrusted his fledgling business with the development of their property. Nitesh Estates now has more than eight million sq ft in advanced stages of planning and development in residential and A-grade office space, hospitality and retail projects, each with a distinct style brought by internationally reputed designers like Jurong International and hospitality design kingpin Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo.
Thirty-four year old Nitesh
Shetty is a rising
star in the Indian
hotel industry. A tennis champ-turned builder who will soon launch
the Ritz Carlton in Bangalore, Shetty is well-traveled, used to jetting off to
London for events like Wimbledon and a veteran at dining at the finest
restaurants on his travels.
He is among a growing tribe of
well-heeled Indians who can spend a fortune on the niceties of life, and that
includes food. For people like him, the days of conservative eating habits and
feeling that money spent at restaurants was a waste are decisively over. Shetty
fondly recalls an exotic dinner with the Carlton folks at the Nobu in Tribeca, New York.
So when Shetty decided to build the Carlton, he naturally
thought of roping in the best restaurants and chefs in the world. For the past
few months he has been chasing the Japanese power-dining brands Nobu and
Hakkasan, and Michelin multi-starred chefs like Alain Ducasse.
Shetty says frankly that
getting in names like these creates a buzz around the hotel. But it can happen,
he notes, because clients here are ready to upgrade their lifestyles to such
brands and, besides, the brands themselves are keen: "It gives an
opportunity to some of the best of the culinary world to make their way into a
nation of rich gourmet patrons."
Would that be India? It would.
At Rs 3,500-4,000 per person, Hakkasan, a super trendy modern Chinese
restaurant, originally from London, that opened last year in Mumbai's Bandra
neighborhood serves one of the most expensive dinners in India. At an average
of Rs 6,000 per person, the Delhi edition of New York's Le Cirque is even more
expensive, but then it is housed in India's most expensive luxury hotel The
Leela New Delhi.
Both places are packed out
most weekends and advice clients to make advance reservations even on weekdays.
"Indians today have an experimental palate. People want to be able to have
dining options they would chose in New York, Tokyo or London," says
Aishwarya Nair, head of corporate food and beverage at Leela Hotels, which is
majority owned by her family.
But it isn't just the checks,
but also what you get for them. Megu, the Japanese restaurant that has opened
alongside Le Cirque at The Leela offers sparkling sake with sushi and a
grilling technique using a special Kyoto charcoal called 'Bincho-tan' made from
aromatic white oak branches carbonized so hard they resemble glass and which
can reach extremely high levels of heat. They have special Japanese chilies
preserved in snow and are lavish with ingredients like osetra caviar. At Le Cirque
next door, you can get more osetra, served with their Rs 8,000 risotto
Bollinger, which is made of rice cooked with Bollinger champagne, scampi,
caviar and mascarpone with roasted lime.
Hakkasan, Megu and Le Cirque
will soon be joined by other premium restaurant brands, like Zuma and Nobu, and
outposts from chefs like Ducasse, Gordon Ramsey and Anton Mossiman. They are
all making a beeline for India, entering on the back of new super luxury hotels
being built across the country. It is a win-win for these five-star hotels as
well as the marquee restaurant brands. For the hotels, it becomes a part of
their publicity, while for restaurants, there is access to a captive audience
and the best location in the city, and virtually no real estate cost, if they get
their agreement right.
Food and beverage contributes a big portion to the
revenues of hotels in India. "This is as much as 30-40% in some five-star
hotels, compared to 15-20% internationally," says Dilip Puri, managing
director of Starwood Hotels India, which will bring in its St Regis brand to
India soon. It is banking on its partnership with Michelin-starred chef Jean
Georges Vongerichten to set up restaurant brands like Spice Market at its
hotel.
For traditional Indian luxury hotels such as The Oberoi and
ITC, it may still make sense to continue with their in-house brands, which
contribute significantly to their revenues, for the new hotel brands like Four
Seasons or the Carlton, it would probably be ideal to bring in established
global brands instead of developing new in-house brands altogether. Puri says,
"In that case, the margins may be a tad lower owing to revenue-sharing,
but you will have the advantage of housing some of the power brands."
This is probably why other new premium hotels chains like
Four Seasons are also speaking with the likes of Nobu, Zuma, Buddha Bar and
Gordon Ramsay, among others, to set up restaurants at their hotels. Noida-based
developer The 3C Company is setting up a Four Seasons property in Delhi's
suburb of Noida and is talking to similar brands for both the hotel and some of
its retail malls.
The face of the country’s new generation of real estate giants, the company is focused on quality and on-time delivery. Says Shetty of the vision he had when he set up in 2001, “The start was humble but our conviction was strong: to be amongst the top developers in the country. We have proven that hard work and focus always pays. We have made our mark in a highly competitive market with rapid and spectacular achievements in a remarkably short span.” In the housing sector, Nitesh Estates is developing a high-end condominium project for ITC’s senior management, which is spread over six acres and has an approximate outlay of Rs 100 crore (US $25 million). The company has set its sights on retail space with plans to develop mega shopping malls across key cities in South India. The first of these is a 1 million sq ft, Rs 400 crore (US $101 million) project on the high street of Bangalore - Indiranagar 100 ft Road.
The company has expanded its footprint to other real estate hotspots like Mumbai, Delhi, Goa, Kolkata, Chennai, Mangalore and Kochi. It closed the largest land deal in South India when it acquired prime land in Chennai’s boat club area for Rs 630 crore (US $160 million) to create a mixed-use property. In Kochi, NItesh Estates is developing a 1.5 million sq ft environment friendly premium office property. It is also developing a 2 million sq ft Special Economic Zone in Mangalore, which will employ more than 10000 people once it is completed in 2009.
From A-grade office and residential spaces to IT parks, shopping malls and five star hotels, the company has taken a quantum leap in terms of scope and reach. Leveraging the power of branding in the recent past, it roped in Australian cricketer Shane Warne and India’s own tennis star Sania Mirza to endorse Nitesh properties and to project its urbane, upmarket image. The straightforward and matter-of-fact Shetty is known for his focus and clarity of thought and has earned the respect of his peers, competitors, media and customers alike. “My aim is to make Nitesh Estates India’s premier and most trusted real estate developer,” he says. His soaring ambition is reflected in his buildings that are named after prime real estate in USA and the UK – Times Square, Broadway, Mayfair, Buckingham Gate and Forest Hills, symbolising the company’s commitment to international quality.
He is one of the youngest and innovative minds in the field of real estates....and has a grt future....
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