December 5, 2006
Starwood to pump US$500mn in Indian realty space

Starwood Capital Group LLC plans to invest as much as US$500mn in India's real estate market over the next three years, Chairman and CEO Barry Sternlicht has been quoted as saying. According to reports, the company is in talks to strike its first property deal for US $50mn in a Tier II Indian city, Sternlicht said.

The Greenwich, Connecticut-based Starwood expects to complete the transaction by the end of March 2007.

Starwood yesterday opened an office in Mumbai, and plans to increase the number of employees to 20 from four by the end of next year, according to Sternlicht. The company will consider investments in any city with two million to three million people, he said.

Starwood's investment in real estate will span from residential, hotel, retail and office properties, to golf courses and community resorts. The company will initially focus on developing residential projects, followed by hotels and commercial office space, Sternlicht said.

The company is also looking to introduce its luxury hotel brand Hotel de Crillon, its eco-friendly hotel brand 'I' and its budget hotel chain, Campanile in India. Starwood group owns leading hotel brands such as Sheraton and Westin. It is also one of the world's leading owners of golf courses in the world.

Also, Starwood Hotels & Reports plans to manage and operate up to seven Westin luxury properties across India over the next five years. The first of such premium luxury hotels from the Starwood's stable will open in February at Gurgaon.

Gurgaon will have another Westin hotel by early 2008 while Bangalore, Goa and Jaipur will have one each by 2010. All the five Westin hotels are being developed by the Delhi-based Vatika Group. Starwood Hotels is also looking to set up a Westin property in Hyderabad and a second one in Bangalore.

Source : India Info Line