Mickey in your bedroom

With the tieup with US-based Disney for branded residences, Sunteck Realty, a Mumbai-based developer, joins a bandwagon of property companies who are planning such homes to woo wealthy buyers. Already a number of developers such as Lodha, Nitesh Estates, Oberoi Realty, Westcourt, have either launched or planning to launch branded residences with various global brands.

Sunteck plans to launch Disney-themed residences in its Rs 10,000 crore Sunteck City project in Goregaon west area of Mumbai wherein the houses will have Disney branded furnishing, home décor products, colour palettes and bath fittings in kids’ rooms. The project will also have Disney-themed playgrounds, open areas, parks among others.

“We understand from real estate players that in an apartment, around 10 - 15 per cent of the overall interior work is dedicated to the children's bedroom. This tie up will ensure faster buying into the project by giving it a strong differentiator,” says Roshini Bakshi, managing director, consumer products, retail and publishing, Disney UTV. Disney already retails Disney character inspired home products like beds, curtains, rugs etc.

Though the homes in the project will have a price band of Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 3 crore, the developer plans to charge nominally to buyers for Disney themed rooms and even sponsor an all expense paid trip to Disney Land in Hong Kong to existing and prospective buyers to perk up sales.

Starting with Sunteck, Disney also plans to tie up with other developers to have such themed projects. Disney is not alone in spotting the potential. Global hospitality brands too are betting on it. For instance, Canadian hotel chain Four Seasons is building a 30 storey, 110-residences project called CityView in Bangalore. Apartments are expected to cost more than Rs 10 crore. Four Seasons is also planning to have another branded residences project in Lower Parel area of Mumbai with the Jathia family.

Another Mumbai-based realtor Oberoi Realty is in talks with global hotel brands such as St Regis Residences, Mandarin Oriental Residences and Ritz-Carlton Residences for its Worli project and n announcement is expected next quarter. Oberoi has hired internationally acclaimed architects KPF Associates, known for the Shanghai World Financial Centre, for the project. It will have at least 200 branded residences.

Mumbai-based Lodha Group went one step ahead when it roped in iconic fashion designer Giorgio Armani’s interior design studio Armani Casa to India to design its apartments and villas in its ambitious project World One where homes start from Rs 8.5 crore last year.

“By tying up with brands or designers, players are defining a brand image,” says Anand Narayanan, national director - residential services, Knight Frank,” There is a brand promise that the customer can look forward to.

The sudden rush for branded residences is also to keep up with the changing dynamics of the market. Experts say that real estate is also a consumer product and is no different from a bottle of soda or car. It also needs to be differentiated for consumers to see the value in the offering. “Everyone these days says a project is premium or luxury. Earlier this could be backed up by the location of the project. But not anymore. Now real estate market has developed and the prices are not being governed by location alone. It is about location, product development and marketing,” says Narayanan.

Developers also agree. “On a product proposition level, it adds a different aesthetic appeal to the project and helps augment the product offering. It also adds a definitive premium, as it’s an offering that cannot be easily replicated by competition in the market,” says R Karthik, chief marketing officer, Lodha Group.

Some, however, say a sudden spurt of supply could pose challenges for developers.