An Interview with Rahul Saraf, One of the Most Creative
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TM Want to be here? real-real- tiestiesKolkata’s only real estate magazine I Vol 9 I Issue 4 I January 2014 real- Steal the limelight in style and join the bandwagon of over 45,000 show-stealers from the corporate world, real estate, retail sector, HNI and more. tiesKolkata’s only real estate magazine Ad sales agency enquiries solicited MAVERICK!AN INTERVIEW WITH RAHUL SARAF, ONE OF THE MOST CREATIVE REAL For enquires and to advertise: Call 033 4040 1010/ 6620 1010 | [email protected] ESTATE VISIONARIES OF INDIA Opposite Mirania Lake, NEW LAUNCH near Science City INIA Land area: 1.5 bigha Number of flats: 37 Completion time: January 2017 Number of blocks: 1 Unit sizes: 2,180; 2,450; 4,630 sq ft Location: E.M.Bypass/P.C.Connector Number of floors: B+G+21 Open space: 80 percent Developer: J. C. Infratech The developer speaks: “The project offers an exclusive premium residential lifestyle living with internationally benchmarked architecture. Contact: Attractive pricing makes it a worthy buy. Inia 033 40401010/ is strategically located at Topsia which is well-connected across the city. A 40 ft lobby 66201010 with a water curtain is a unique feature in the project. All apartments are south-facing Email: sales@ with three sides open. The infinity pool on nkrealtors.com the terrace along with a Sky Gym provides a modern lifestyle edge to the project.” NEW LAUNCH NORTH GRANDENear Airport Land area: 400 cottahs • 3 BHK Flat (sq ft.): 1,231, 1,312 grace period Number of wings: 19 and 1,903 Location: Beside Belghoria Express Number of floors: G+6 (Proposed) • 4 BHK Flat (sq ft.): 2,311 Way, near Durganagar Rail Station, Number of apartments: 480 Open space: 60 percent Nimta, Kolkata 700 049. Unit sizes: Completion: 42 months from the date Developer: Mounthill Realty and • 2 BHK Flat (sq ft.): 1,022 of commencement + six months’ Balmukund The developer speaks: “In today’s fast- paced life, the most important asset Contact: of our lives – health – is relegated to the back burner. North Grande is a 033 40401010/ residential complex designed around 66201010 one’s health. Comprising a health- themed central garden and two-storey Email: sales@ clubhouse. Designed to stimulate the nkrealtors.com mind, strengthen the body and stir the soul. So that residents may cherish life.” COVER STORY N. K. Realtors (P) Ltd. Maverick! 9, Elgin Road (4th Floor), Mudar Patherya Kolkata – 700020, India Tel: 033 4040 1030 interviews Rahul Web: www.nkrealtors.com Saraf, one of the most For feedback, write to us at [email protected] creative real estate visionaries of India on himself. Home Loan Partner INSIDE Editor: Biplab Kumar Co-ordinator: Sanjay Adhikary Proof reader: Sandip Das Distribution: Abhijit Kar and Bandhu Sundar Ghosh Database management: Sonti Nag GRAFFITI GOLD AGE HOME WHAT’S YOUR RATING? Advertising: Anuraj Dhar Some select individuals are making How a swank modern-day home for Anirudh Agarwal explains what (+91 9674107979) Kolkata’s walls more vibrant. Student the elderly presents a niche segment makes CRISIL Real Estate Star Ratings Editorial support and design: Kausar Ali Patherya offers a fresh yet to be discovered in India’s (CREST) one of the most credible perspective on the graffiti across the young organised real estate sector independent ratings in India’s realty city walls ............................................. 12 ................................................. 18 sector ..................................................22 DISCLAIMER The publisher, contributors and editor are not responsible in any way for the actions or results taken by any person or organisation on the basis of reading information, stories or contributions in this publication. The views expressed are their own. For all real estate queries, please call the customer care at: 033 4040 1010/6620 1010 anytime between 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (IST), 7 days a TEN THINGS I WOULD DO TO BRTS WILL REVOLUTIONISE week. ECO PARK IMPROVE KOLKATA KOLKATA COMMUTING HIDCO Chairman cum Managing Content published in Real-Ties is an A perspective by prominent installation exclusive intellectual property of the JC Ganguly, Traffic and Transport Director Debashis Sen speaks on what artist Susanta Pal ...............................24 Department of Public Relations and Department, KMDA, explains how makes Eco Park unique ...................30 Corporate Communications – N. K. the proposed Bus Rapid Transit Realtors Pvt. Ltd. System will revolutionise commuting N.B. For free circulation, not for sale. in Kolkata ..........................................26 January 2014 /real-ties/02 EDITORIAL If there is one thing that Kolkata needs it is maverick in him through ‘Atmosphere’, his mavericks. There used to be a time when premium residential showpiece. This is not just mavericks abounded in the city and there likely to emerge as a Kolkata showpiece; Rahul was a saying that ‘What Calcutta thinks today, insists that this will set the benchmark across India thinks tomorrow.’ Over time, Kolkata has all of India! become increasingly conformist and just like The year 2014 will be an interesting year other areas of the city’s life, this is also evident for Kolkata following the introduction of the in its real estate sector. We will not say that proposed Bus Rapid Transit System, the growth most facades and structures are just about the of the 480-acre Eco Park and launch of the same; we will however say that there is a need Srijan Industrial Logistic Park. for builders and architects to do something radically different. We would welcome your observations and suggestions at [email protected] This brings us to someone who has done just that. Rahul Saraf. He has dared, he REGARDS, TEAM NK has questioned. In this issue we profile the THE WOW OF A LANDSCAPED FOURTEEN REASONS TO LOOK A TILE THAT CONVERTS A SHERWOOD COMPLEX: ALL PROPERTY! FORWARD TO 2014 FOOTSTEP INTO ENERGY? SECURE! Landscape architect Madhup New additions in the city to look Urban strategist Scott Burnham What makes Sherwood Estate one of Mazumder speaks about ‘landscape’ forward to in 2014, be it in the presents six ideas that can revitalise the the most secure residential properties transforming into an integral entertainment sector or infrastructure urban landscape ................................42 in Kolkata? .........................................44 component of real estate projects ...34 or culturally .......................................40 FOCUS ON SRIJAN INDUSTRIAL GOSSIPWALLAH DEVELOPMENTS FREEWHEELING LOGISTIC PARK What keeps Devang Gandhi fit? How Upcoming facilities and real estate Mudar Patherya on one of the great Abhishek Bharuka explains Simpark as an automated parking trends sprouting across the city ......54 unsolved mysteries - how eunuchs ‘warehousing’ and what makes SILP system works as a model? What makes discover that a child has been born at one of the largest industrial logistics the Realty Expo a grand success? The home! .................................................56 parks of Eastern India! .....................48 proverbial fly on the wall picks up interesting stuff .................................52 January 2014 /real-ties/03 MAVERICK! MAVERICK! What makes Kolkata’s Rahul Saraf, who is building the Atmosphere showpiece, one of the most creative real estate visionaries of India? Mudar Patherya and Radhika Bansal interview the man – on himself A designed image of the 35-storeyed Atmosphere being constructed on the EM Bypass adjacent to Science City. A part of the 12,000 sq ft permanent gallery inside Forum on Elgin Road showcasing the premium residential project of Atmosphere, weighing two tonnes What makes Rahul Saraf ‘Rahul They needed to do so through Indian eyes and the Saraf’? partners selected me to be that interface. In turn, Definitely not a desire to be different for the sake of I was required to understand their operational being different! What makes me ‘me’ is that I love workflow (project management, timelines, quality what I do. It is the realisation that my work will live checks and balances). That was where I completed beyond my existence. And it is a matter of pride – my graduation! call it izzat - that I must create something that will In what way? make people say ‘Must have been a visionary who In those days, building a ten-storey building in built it!’ I will go to the extent of saying that if I were India took three years. The Singaporeans built a FMCG producer what I would have created would 70-storeyed towers in 18 months. Their Republic have been consumed and vanished; what builders Plaza (1.5 million sq ft) in the central business produce is consumed and still exists for people to district was built within a year-and-a-half. In another appreciate. So how could I not be passionate?! project, they built four basements with a mall and How does one connect the dots office tower above with the basement wall kissing backwards? the metro tunnel through a ‘top-down’ approach. I completed only six months of college (St Xavier’s B. Mind blowing. The irony was that after a year, the Com). On paper, there would have been no hope for Singapore company concluded that Kolkata wouldn’t me but something fortuitous happened. The family be able to absorb their costs. They exited and our began to work on the Infinity IT project in Salt Lake partners concluded that we – the Sarafs – should with partners. Initially we had farmed the project out assume the role of the turnkey contractor since I had to a Singapore company to design and build. This already absorbed most of the Singaporean practices. Singapore company needed a techno-feasibility study And that is how we graduated from financial to ascertain turnkey project costs and timelines. partners to vendors while building Infinity, India’s first IT Park at that time. January 2014 /real-ties/06 In what way was Infinity different? When the building is completed, loans repaid and This is a relevant question because today one may not the business is 100 percent yours, will the property be able to appreciate what we brought to the city in the still be relevant? Take Technopolis for instance, early Nineties.