Designer homes, immune to pandemic blues, are inviting new interest

Curated properties high on amenities catch fancy of a younger, moneyed India

Right before the pandemic, Sotheby’s International Realty organised a highbrow fashion show at Sunteck's Signature Island in Mumbai’s upscale commercial hub, Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), to showcase the building's luxurious facilities. Sashaying down the ramp with some of India’s top models was actor Deepika Padukone. The event, attended by many of Bollywood’s leading figures, was hosted in total privacy in the building’s basement that was swanky enough to match the foyer of any of the city’s five-star hotels. 

The 64 duplex residences on offer were targeted at the country’s ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNIs), corporate honchos and celebrities. Each of these homes came with a private deck and double-height living rooms overlooking the BKC skyline. The building itself was the first residential one in India with two atriums; and came with 11 high-speed elevators, including an indoor one. Each tower boasted a private garden, a temperature-controlled swimming pool and an indoor golf simulator. With prices starting at Rs 90,000 per sq ft, the sprawling apartments cost between Rs 25 crore and Rs 100 crore.

Then the pandemic struck. But did it interrupt the sale of boutique homes such as these? Turns out, the designer homes’ segment is immune to even once-in-a-lifetime events such as Covid-19. While the developer, Sunteck Realty, does not reveal the number of apartments sold, Anuj Puri, chairman, Anarock realty consultants, says even during the longest, deepest slump in the luxury housing market, the niche designer homes’ segment held its own.

These are not homes that play the volume game. "Such properties are built in very limited numbers in extremely high-profile locations, and are consistently in demand with the super-rich,” says Puri, adding that their demand has risen visibly in the pandemic years.

Sotheby's, for instance, sold 110 homes in Financial Year 2021 and about 40 per cent more (some 150 homes) in FY22. The average ticket price of these homes was around Rs 25 crore. 

Some of these sales get noticed. Like the house that Sotheby’s sold recently for Rs 100 crore in Kolkata. “That home had a lot of art, including sculptures, and its furniture and lights were all high on aesthetics – these were all collectibles. It even had a cigar room and a closet with hundreds of smoking pipes,” says Amit Goyal, CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty, while refusing to reveal who bought it, or even who sold it.

But what is it that makes a designer home different from a super-premium one? 

Zubin Zainuddin, partner at ZZ Architects, which works on luxury homes across 20 cities nationwide, says amenities, for one, are a notch above: these could include spas, gaming lounges, private theatres, wine cellars, extensive landscaping, indoor swimming pools, state-of-the-art home offices, libraries, maybe even, say, Japanese dining, or a vegetable garden. "We have also designed homes where we have had to incorporate rock climbing walls," he adds.

These are often homes curated to a T.

“A designer home includes the creativity aspect, sometimes even a theme,” Goyal says. He gives the example of a few farmhouses in Delhi that the firm recently sold in the range of Rs 80 crore and Rs 120 crore. “Some of the homeowners flew in architects from Singapore and London, even Europe,” he says, “and imported the lights and chandeliers from Italy, France, the Czech Republic…”

A ‘new India’ is now beginning to explore the boutique property space, says Himmat Singh, managing partner, Christie’s International Real Estate. “These are not the old-school folks but people who've done phenomenally well over the last few years,” he says. “They are in their mid-30s or early-40s – people with a good amount of disposable income,” and the desire to own a designer property.

If it was location and build quality (or ‘the hardware’) that drove up sales of luxury real estate in the past, there is now also a new segment of buyers that is seeking a designer label, more amenities and a badge value (or ‘the software’) in a home.

The list of such dwellings includes the Four Seasons Private Residences, Ritz-Carlton Residences, or homes and villas designed by Tarun Tahiliani, Rohit Bal, Abu Jani & Sandeep Khosla among other couturiers. 

“The right neighbourhood or the right view was required earlier as well. Now, there’s also a demand for an office space, home theatres, swimming pool or landscaping in a residence,” Goyal says. “Wellness, post-pandemic, has also become a key factor with people asking for yoga rooms and gyms, and checking out the air quality in the residence.”

Also, with these boutique homes, the needs of every member of the family have to be taken into account, he adds. 

“So the art of selling these properties involves keenly understanding and meeting those softer aspects; narrowing down on what might suit the prospective buyer; and then presenting the options in a very professional manner," Goyal says. The marketing of such properties then tends to circumvent the larger investor community and focuses on small “inner-circle” investor groups and end-users, Anarock’s Puri adds.

Prospective buyers are also tapped by giving them an initial experience of the property through high-quality videos or pictures, or through a virtual tour of the residence. 

Bespoke homes

• Limited-edition properties
• High on aesthetics
• High on amenities, including, say, gym, gaming lounges, private theatres, wine cellars, cigar rooms, indoor swimming pools, state-of-the-art home offices, libraries, even a vegetable garden
• Some homes designed by Indian couturiers; some by architects flown in
• Buyers now also include those in their mid-30s and early-40s