Blackstone to rebrand, revamp its malls

US-based Blackstone Group is rebranding and revamping two of the malls it acquired last year. They are located in Amritsar and Ahmedabad.
 
Blackstone’s mall arm Nexus Malls has spent Rs 40 crore on the exercise, said a source. It is planning to rename both the malls which are currently under the name, AlphaOne. The firm got rid of local markets and is adding more retail space in both of them.
 
Last year, Blackstone acquired AlphaOne, which has malls in Ahmedabad and Amritsar
 

In Amritsar, it is shifting the food court and has brought in more restaurants. While in Ahmedabad, it is upgrading the food court and has shifted the escalators to the side to bring in more space in the central atrium.

 
The idea is aimed at improving visibility, footfalls and financial numbers.
 
Interestingly, when the Blackstone-Panchshil venture bought the iconic Express Towers in Mumbai from ICICI Venture and Viveek Goenka, it refurbished the lobby, elevators and other aspects of the building.
 
"With Ahmedabad and Amritsar, we are looking at upping the game. So, we are transforming certain key aspects of the assets which would change the way they are performing. Come January 1, we would be rebranding both the AlphaOne malls and there would be a sustained campaign around it. Both of them would be known for their new identities" said Nishank Joshi, head-marketing, Nexus Malls.

 
According to experts, the exercise is a precursor to Blackstone's plans to list mall assets separately as a real estate investment trust (Reit) in the future.
 
"They consider malls as a separate asset class which produce fixed rental income and can be exited in future with Reits or an IPO," said an executive with a private equity firm.
 
Blackstone's three malls in Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Amritsar occupy an area of 2.5 million square feet. It is looking to buy more operational and land parcels, which it would develop with land owners, the source added.
 
This year, Blackstone bought a 1 million-sq ft mall in the Seawoods area in Mumbai from L&T Realty for Rs 1,400 crore. According to sources, its mall portfolio is valued at Rs 1,800 crore.

 
It has set up a separate team for malls, which is headed by Vikram Garg. They have set up a separate office in Vashi, Navi Mumbai. About 75 people work in the malls and offices of Nexus Malls.
 
Recently, it also bought a 50% stake in a mall in Pune.