NEW DELHI: Property consultant Anarock has said it has partnered Faithlane to provide services in the retail real estate segment as part of its expansion plan.
Anarock was formed last year by Anuj Puri, former chairman and country head of JLL India. Puri quit JLL in February 2017 after serving 10 years in the company and then later acquired the residential brokerage arm of JLL India.
Last month, Anarock partnered with HVS to form a new vertical ‘HVS Anarock’ for tapping business opportunities in the hospitality sector.
It also merged ANB Capital with itself to start a real estate investment banking advisory service through a separate division Anarock Capital.
Moving ahead, Anarock has now launched Anarock Retail, a new firm dedicated to tapping into India’s USD 700 billion retail market via its expert retail consultancy services.
The new firm Anarock Retail is a partnership between Anarock and Faithlane Property Consultants, headed by retail realty veteran Anuj Kejriwal. Kejriwal will now be CEO& MD of Anarock retail.
“Anarock’s entry into the retail real estate domain was really only a matter of time,” said Anuj Puri, Chairman – Anarock.
“We have a deep market reach in this domain, and the launch of Anarock Retail is aptly-timed. Despite multitude firms active in the retail real estate arena, disconnect between retailers and the spaces they need has never been wider.
“Many mall owners have been unable to align their products and strategies to the new retail environment,” he added.
During 2017, many shopping malls were closed and nearly 5 million sq ft of retail space was wiped out.
“In most cases, developers did not invest in strategic research of the tenanting equation, adequate leasing expertise and the right mall management partners. It is, in fact, possible to revive a mall if a professional firm like Anarock reworks the equation at the DNA level,” Puri said.
He added that the available space could be turned profitable via focused mixed-use tenanting, reverse modeling or a complete revamp of the business model.
As CEO& MD for Anarock Retail, Kejriwal will head a team of 30+ retail real estate professionals and aims to ramp up the headcount to 100 over the next 12 months.
“The speed of evolution in Indian retail has been so fast that the majority of mall developers and retailers have been unable to keep pace with the rapid change in trends,” Kejriwal said.
With a growing team of 1,500 professionals, Anarock operates in key property markets like Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune and also has an international presence in Dubai. PTI
