Donald Trump behind two luxury residential towers in India
Donald Trump behind two luxury residential towers in India
The Trump brand has several luxury projects in the pipeline in Asia
With a project already underway in the Philippines, and another announced in Indonesia, Donald Trump isn’t shy about spreading his brand in Asia. The Trump Organisation is also part of two luxury residential projects in India.
Indian real estate firms Lodha Group and the Panchshil Group are both building their own Trump Towers in the subcontinent, reports The Hindustan Times.
A 75-storey tower, called the Lodha Trump Tower, will rise in the upmarket Worli district of Mumbai, while Panchshil will develop two 23-storey Trump Towers in Pune, both in the state of Maharashtra.
Despite the Republican candidate’s controversial comments causing offense to many people in Asia, Asian property companies still tend to value the Trump brand in terms of luxury. “The aim of Lodha Group’s collaboration with the Trump Organization for the Trump Tower Mumbai is to raise the bar in every sense for luxury and services and set a new benchmark for luxury living in India creating a tower that redefines the Mumbai skyline,” the Lodha Group said in a statement.
Lodha’s Trump skyscraper will offer units starting at INR9 crore (USD1.3 million) as well as a private jet service. The Trump Towers by Panchshil will have a single unit for each floor.
Panchshil slaps a 25 percent premium on units in its Trump-branded towers. As a result, buyers who have leased their units are “getting more than INR5 lakh per month that is almost double than those in the neighbourhoods,” Sagar Chordia, director for Panchshil Realty, told The Hindustan Times.
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Trump has not contributed financially to the projects, rather, he is paid an undisclosed fee for the use of the brand name.
This development comes as a growing faction of Indians throw their support behind the Trump campaign. Mangal Prabhat Lodha, chairman and founder of Lodha Group, is reportedly a fundraiser for his campaign. Last year, Indian-Americans launched the Hindu Republican Coalition, led by industrialist Shalabh Kumar who has also contributed USD1.1 million to the Trump campaign.
Kumar, who is associated for anti-Pakistan sentiments, declared that Trump will be the “most pro-India President since the birth of the US.”
The Trump campaign has been deflecting accusations of racism and xenophobia in recent months. At a rally in Delaware, Trump impersonated a call center worker in an accent while saying: “We are from India,” (watch below).
Of the Philippines, where another Trump Tower is under construction, the Republican leader suggested that it is a nation that coddles terrorists, outraging government officials. His Islamophobic remarks earlier this year have also irked Muslims in Indonesia, where two Trump resorts are being developed.
Although there have been high-profile early takers for Panchshil’s Trump project, such as Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor, some experts are doubtful that branded developments will resonate with Indian property buyers. “Indians are not swayed by brand per se as here real estate sells on basis of the location and the neighbourhood,” Pankaj Kapoor, CEO of real estate research firm Liases Foras, told The Hindustan Times.
This is not Trump’s first foray in India. In 2011, he signed an agreement with Mumbai developer Rohan Lifescapes for a luxury project that was eventually nixed due to regulatory issues.
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Source: Property Report