LONDON: Rich and famous Indians at home and super-rich Indian expatriates here have become the second largest ethnic group to buy into the world's first fashion-branded Palazzo Versace lifestyle resort, which is soon to be launched from London, TOI has learned.
Indian interest in the global rollout on April 29 of Palazzo Versace, a 169-residence complex on Dubai's waterfront with prices starting at £1,850,000 (Rs 14.6 crore) and progressing to an eye-popping £12 million (Rs 95 crore), is seen as an emphatic illustration of the "desi dollar's" burgeoning buying power and Indian thirst for brand-focused luxury.
The Indians are just behind Iranian buyers and ahead of the Russians, said Soheil Abedian, head of Sunland Group. The public-listed Australian company has tied up with the House of Versace, the global luxury brand, to develop the Palazzo concept.
Palazzo Versace's new appreciation of the "desi dollar" comes as London-based luxury interior design and development company, Candy & Candy, revealed plans to do a special unveiling in Mumbai of "One Hyde Park", the world's most expensive real estate development ever.
Though no one is confirming anything, it's thought that steel tycoon L N Mittal, the world's richest Indian, has already bought into the fashion-as-lifestyle experience of Palazzo Versace, where the vaulted ceilings are hand-detailed in gold and antique chandeliers light up the foyers. Asked who the Indian buyers are, Abedian said with coy emphasis: "Maybe (they are within the public eye), I really cannot name names, they would not like it."
Versace planning Indian foray in '09
Indian interest is so strong in Palazzo Versace, which describes itself as the byword for sensuous elegance with echoes of the Italian Renaissance, that it is planning to unveil a complex in India — possibly Goa — within the next 12 months, Abedian said.
An Indian Palazzo Versace would be the defining symbol of an "India Poised" to emphasize its newly-affordable consumer appetites, hunger for luxury brand names and burgeoning ranks of high-networth individuals.
Versace claims that purchasing a Palazzo condominium is "like buying a rare piece of art with the 'built form'" with each residence taking "a team of skilled craftsmen tens of thousands of man hours to build over many months".
Versace believes the Indian push towards ultra-luxe property and products echoes quantifiable changes in the international market place with "Tata buying Jaguar even though it also makes the world's cheapest car. India has many different categories of buyers," said Abedian.
The 5.5-hectare Palazzo Dubai complex, which is being marketed as a modern throwback to European palaces in the Baroque style, is the second ultra-luxe branded property-as-lifestyle development to attract Indian interest after iconic architect Santiago Calatrava's Chicago Spire, the world's tallest residential building.
Abedian, who opened the doors of his first Palazzo complex on Australia's Gold Coast eight years ago, says there is a profound difference in the profile of buyers this time round with the newly cash-rich east dominating and the west falling behind. "Buyers for the Gold Coast Palaazo were Australian, New Zealander and British or German.
Now, it is Iranian, Indian, Russian, Gulf countries and Europeans, in that order," he said. Indian moneybags' rush to Dubai and its Palazzo development is seen as proof of the so-called Gateway City's credentials as "an emerging economy, like India and China... in the east, but able to give people a western lifestyle".
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment