Having executed super specialty real estate developments utilizing the strengths of advanced designs and international management systems in their projects, Aman Trehan, Director, Trehan Group, has an interesting chronicle to share about. Read on more to know about his journey and what future growth plans he has for the company.
Tell us about your journey in the real estate business.
Well, it is definitely not a simple task to put this into a few words, but the real estate business for me has been a part of me since the very early years of my life, seeing my father live through the day ins and outs of it, as kids our father used to take us to various construction sites every now and then and seeing him at work was a delight as he was extremely technical and passionate about building something beautiful and unique. This raised an utmost curiosity in me to understand the business from a very early age, going into my youth I started taking up small jobs at work and completing them while I was still in school and college, started understanding the workings of it quite naturally and eventually diving into the nitty-gritty of the business in terms of construction, sales, marketing, finance, leasing etc to the point of taking a considerable control of the business, it has become a way of life that I thoroughly and passionately enjoy.
What are the standard protocols being followed by your company while building a project?
Each project is unique and has a set of challenges attached to it, even though our company follows a set of SOPs that are similar in nature to each and every project, but still there is always a number of variables that need a different approach, it is absolutely dynamic in nature, we have a strong core team to do an analysis of every location where the project is to be built, we strategize on the financing, sales, marketing, concept and construction at a very early stage as to gauge the viability of the project and once we are absolutely sure only then we go on to build landmarks.
According to you how is the demand picking up for premium residential space?
Premium residential is in an excellent space now after a very long time, the wait has been worth it, there has been money parked on the sidelines for quite a while now waiting for the right time to enter, there couldn’t have been a better time to buy than now as the prices have stabilised after seeing many jerks like the demo and very recently the pandemic, hence, the home buyers with deep pockets are diving in to get the best deals, going forward the scope to deliver much quality and aesthetically driven high-end homes has opened up exponentially.
Your vision ‘good delivery and great quality’ so define in what context you are different from the other developers?
More than being a “good delivery and great quality” the most important aspect of any business is to be able to handle your finances righteously if you have the bandwidth to take up a project only then you should get into it, the biggest issue with most developers is them being over-leveraged and that hits you hard when the market is down. We as a company are quite cautious about our finances and consider any eventuality to make sure that what we say, we deliver with passionately conceptualising, designing, constructing, and delivering masterpieces in the defined timelines.
With the advent of hi-tech, how different was embracing technology into the real estate industry?
It has been a total boon for the real estate industry, searching the perfect space for your home, office, shop is now just a click away with the best ever pricing, it has made the industry extremely transparent for the buyers as well as has given an online market for the developers. In terms of construction, it has helped to decrease timelines massively with various software available in the market to systematically organise and plan alongside the data availability and connectivity which is used for project execution.
What about the landmark projects the Group has executed so far and important infra projects in hand?
We as a company have executed many landmark projects starting from the 1950s as A class government contractors, we have proudly delivered parts of the Supreme court of India, Tihar jail, All India Radio broadcasting house, Safdarjung airport, Pwd headquarters and many more. Then we forayed into doing our own real estate projects during the 1980s in the capital and have completed and delivered more than 10 million square feet of space in Delhi NCR along with a range of commercial, residential, IT and hotel projects coming ahead.
Other than residential projects you have also forayed into commercial space, tell us more about your retail ventures?
After successfully delivering and leasing more than a million square feet of office space, we figured that it was time for us to test the waters of the retail malls’ space, hence in 2019 we delivered ‘Iris Broadway’, it is an eclectic mix of retail, cinema, hypermarket, hospitality and giant showrooms in sector-85 new Gurgaon and we have been successful in leasing more than 2 lac square feet space to the most prominent retail and hotel brands in the country. Going forward we are in line to launch Iris Broadway Noida extension, Iris Broadway sector-95 Gurgaon and Iris Broadway Jaipur which collectively will construe close to 1.7 million square feet of retail, office, and hospitality space.
What are your thoughts on the current scenario of real estate business?
The real estate market has had many jerks since the 2008 crisis, it stabilised itself and consolidated for a very long time, there were some hits, some misses in terms of the projects being delivered yet it stayed just 30-35 per cent below the top for many years, we didn’t know those prices till we saw them during the booming markets, the players who consolidated and worked with little leverage stayed relevant, slowly and firmly increasing their premium holdings, now it’s time we gear up for a better tomorrow while we fight the pandemic head-on collectively.
What are your future plans for the company?
As an entrepreneur, I am always looking for the right opportunity, with the right team and an optimistic outlook for the real estate industry I foresee a whole lot of well-designed and quality projects being delivered in the years to come. Most importantly, keeping a positive mindset is key for the future!
How did you cope up from this lockdown phase and what was one thing that you learned through it?
I cannot say that it was an easy time, we saw some absolute heart-breaking consequences to the pandemic starting from the migrant workers who were stranded on the roads without food and shelter for months, it was a world in complete chaos and disarray, being alive was the highest form of luxury, having lived through that time and being safe is like being reborn. My learning is to not take this life for granted, to be absolutely grateful for what we have and to give where there is need.
What message would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
In my capacity as an entrepreneur, my biggest strength has been to be grounded and humble in the highs and to be sanguine in the lows, always be true to your work, it will trickle down in everything that you do, you may see many shortcuts in business but always know that the road ahead is long, make it easy for yourself and others by being genuine.