Anshul Singhal, a former head of Embassy Industrial Parks, has set up his own venture that will develop warehouses through tie-ups with landowners and raise capital from investors to fund the construction.
The new venture, One Industrial Spaces Pvt. Ltd, said in a statement it will develop large-format, institutional-grade warehousing and industrial parks. It will be involved in all key stages of development including site selection, sourcing and due diligence, financing, construction, leasing and exit.
The firm will have fund, asset and development management arms to take care of different aspects of managing a warehouse.
Singhal was the CEO of Embassy Industrial Parks, a joint venture of the Bengaluru developer and private equity firm Warburg Pincus for four-and-a-half years until May this year, his LinkedIn profile shows. He has been involved in the delivery of many Grade A industrial and warehousing facilities across India.
“One Industrial Spaces can deliver end-to-end development management to our customers. This includes procurement of approvals and asset management,” said Singhal.
He said the company has access to high-quality tenants who are looking for large-format warehousing spaces on long-term lease.
“We are partnering with landowners to unlock lands faster. Since land is an emotional subject in India, most landowners don’t wish to sell their land… Given a choice, they would like to partner or have a joint venture with a professional organization to develop a quality asset,” he said.
The company has also tied up with two asset reconstruction companies and is in talks with various banks to buy and develop stressed industrial assets.
Yash Ravel, executive director for capital services at One Industrial Spaces, said the company will also create a platform for affluent investors to invest capital in the warehousing asset class in an organised manner.
“Even in this challenging economic situation for real estate, warehousing continues to be the only sector within Indian real estate to deliver both attractive development returns and stable long-term rental yields to investors,” Ravel said.
Ravel’s comments are in line with a recent report by real estate consultancy Anarock that said the warehousing segment has remained relatively insulated from the overall slowdown in the economy thanks to high primary demand and as companies move from Grade B facilities to Grade A facilities.
Leasing activity in the warehousing segment across key cities in the first two quarters of 2019 jumped 30% from a year earlier to 14 million sq ft, the report said.
