Recently, the VRSA i.e. the Virtuous Retail South Asia, an extended arm of private equity major Xander Group bought a land parcel of approximately 20-acres in Thane from the Raymonds Group, a textile major. This transaction is believed to be finalized for $100 million that is nearly Rs.710 crore.
The Virtuous Retail South Asia plans to invest an additional $240 million for developing this site and its total investment costs hence would be more than Rs. 2,400 crore. According to the sources, the company also plans to develop a 3.7 million sq ft mixed-use city center project spearheaded by a 2.4 million sq ft VR retail flagship.
Instead of being a straight sale and purchase deal, this is said to be a joint venture.
In November last year, there were reports of the Singapore-based Xander Group being the global investor for this 125-acre land parcel at Thane’s Cadbury Junction.
Sid Yog, Founder and Chairman, VRSA said that prime land parcels of this size seldom trade, particularly in all major metropolitan markets such as Mumbai. The company was waiting for this opportunity to expand its business in the region.
Rohit George, Executive Managing Director, VRSA said that the company understands the strong demand for a world-class project that fulfills the changing demands of the customers. We also plan to work with our retail partners.
Apart from the already existing centres in Chennai, Punjab, Bengaluru and Surat, VRSA plans pan-India portfolio that will stand at approximately 11 million sq ft and the estimated time for the completion of this project is about five years.