Indian firm to give $ 400 m facelift to city

By Cheranka Mendis

Colombo’s skyline will change with an investment of US$ 400 million within the next three years, as the land next to Nawaloka Hospital down Sir James Peiris Mawatha gears up for a facelift under an Indian real estate company.

The land, which spans across 10 acres previously occupied by the Colombo Commercial Company (Engineers) Ltd. was recently cleared up under the Urban Development Authority (UDA). Two acres have been awarded for development to Indocean Developers Private Ltd.

Owned by the UDA, the 2 acres have been given on a 99-year lease to the value of Rs. 2.65 billion. The sum has been paid in full.

The project has been listed as one of Sri Lanka’s largest private sector development projects and will transform the area into a promenade-like street with commercial buildings, high end retail stores, cafes, spas and premium residencies.

Tagging the project as a “revolutionary development in the city of Colombo,” Director of Indocean Developers Anil Khetawat yesterday asserted that planning and designing of the project was now underway and that architects of world famous Marina Bay Sands Moshe Safdie Architects had been commissioned to help out with the project.

“This is the first project to be undertaken outside India for Indocean and it will be far superior to any other project we have undertaken so far. We hope to set this as our benchmark internationally and bring in world standards to Colombo, redefining its skyline,” Khetawat said.

According to the agreement signed between Indocean and UDA, construction of the project must start within a period of 12 months.

Khetawat stated that the exact buildings and design had not been confirmed as yet and the only thing that could be said about the project was that it would be a “non finalised project mix with premium residencies, retail outlets, spas, lounges and open areas.”

The company hopes to use the manpower of over 1,000 people for construction, with the majority from Sri Lanka.

Answering a question on the target segment for the premium residencies set to be constructed, Khetawat said: “The target market for the residential apartments will be decided once the project is defined. However, according to a market survey carried out over a period of eight to 10 months by Ernst and Young, it has been noted that there is pent-up demand for space in this segment.”

UDA Chairman Janaka Kurukulasuriya, who was also present at the announcement, stated that the project had received the blessings of President Rajapaksa and was being directed, supervised and inspected by Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The project fits in well with the Government’s plan of upgrading the living conditions of Colombo, beautifying the city and improving business and commercial activities within the city, Kurukulasuriya said.

He acknowledged that the project had been awarded under unsolicited project proposal, but had received the necessary cabinet and tender approval.

“The development will take place on two acres out of the total 10 acres in the cleared areas and will towards to the Nawaloka car park side. The remaining eight acres are open for proposals and development,” Kurukulasuriya said.

“Initially there were only 6.5 acres in the area, but by breaking down the buildings we managed to extend it to 11 acres.”

Out of the 11 acres, one acre has been set aside to construct a road which would connect Sir James Peiris Mawatha and Staple Street. “We have to make a road to let the Gangarama perahera pass through,” he revealed.

He expressed that several unsolicited proposals had come through for the development of the remaining eight acres, which were currently under evaluation. “We have received proposals from foreign companies as well as two local companies,” he noted.

He also claimed that the reason for unsolicited proposal was the poor response received to advertisements placed on previous occasions.

Khetawat commented that the company was delighted by the efficiency of the local government bodies in completing the transactions in a transparent manner.

“We worked with several bodies, including the UDA, BOI, Finance Ministry, Inland Revenue Departments and so on, and were delighted to see the Government agencies collaborating to create a healthy investment climate in the country. This would certainly encourage more companies to invest in Sri Lanka,” he asserted.