Hebbal is the new hotel hotbed

Hebbal is the new hotel hotbed
Westin, Hyatt, Oberoi And Taj Plan To Enter The Area
Anshul Dhamija | TNN

Bangalore: Hebbal has become the new hotbed of real estate activity for the city’s hospitality business. With the location being equi-distant from the new airport and the city centre, realty biggies are busy cementing deals for projects.
City-based real estate major Embassy Group has formed a 50:50 joint venture company with global financial giant Goldman Sachs to develop two hospitality projects as well as a commercial project.
According to company officials, who requested anonymity, Goldman Sachs has invested a total of Rs 330 crore in the JV. The projects are slated to come up over nine acres of land that is owned by Embassy, situated next to its Manyata Tech Park.
Speaking to TOI on the developments, Jitu Virwani, CEO of Embassy Group, said, “We are doing joint development projects with Goldman Sachs. The JV will develop a 325-room luxury hotel that will be managed by Westin as well as a 90-room serviced apartment complex. The JV will also develop a commercial office building.” Virwani added that all the deals are yet to be finalized and refused to give any financial details of the projects or the reported capital infusion by Goldman Sachs into the JV. Westin Hotels & Resorts is a 5-star hotel chain owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts. The brand has over 120 hotels spread across 24 countries.
Listed hospitality developer Asian Hotels is coming up with a 500-room Hyatt hotel in the Hebbal area. “We are close to finalizing on a land deal in Bangalore, where we are looking to put up a Rs 500-crore Hyatt property,” said Sushil Gupta, MD of Asian Hotels. Asian Hotels owns three properties in New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata and operate these hotels under the Hyatt Regency brand, part of Global Hyatt Corporation.
Speaking on the activity around Hebbal, Taposh Chakraborty, CEO of Boutique Hospitality Consultants, said, “With the opening of the new airport, Hebbal was expected to be the first block to see heavy investments in real estate especially in the development of hotels. The area is also slated to have many high-end malls as well as lifestyle spaces. After Hebbal it will be Yelahanka that will see activity.”
Another hospitality project is expected to come up behind the Esteem Mall. “We are building a 5-star luxury property as well as a residential complex,” said a real estate developer, who has land in the area but didn’t want to be named. The total cost is expected to be close to Rs 500 crore. “We are in negotiations with hospitality players to run the hotel,” said the developer. The Oberoi Group has plans to build a luxury hotel for which it already owns land near the Hebbal lake area.
The Taj Group of Hotels has a hospitality project coming up in Yeshwantpur. ITC Hotels too is believed to be looking at the Hebbal area.