Diwaker Singh, CEO, chairman and shareholder in developer Copper Beach, also known in Romania for his stint with Telemobil (Zapp), wants to build 17,000 homes on a market that is showing the first signs of weakness.
The Indian born businessman has been in Romania for ten years, this being the longest period he has spent in one single location. He worked with various companies, such as Federal Express, hotel chain Sheraton, investment bank JPMorgan and in mobile telephony, and prides himself on having laid the foundations of the first mobile telephony network in India.
"I came to Romania in 1998, being part of the first wave of investors who learnt to do business here under difficult conditions. However, I also realised that Romania is full of opportunities in all fields, and unlike India, where there are millions of entrepreneurs, the business here is still in its infancy," recounts Singh.
The firm is controlled by Singh and another 22 investors from London and currently owns 600 hectares of land in Bucharest and surrounding towns, for which it paid around 55m euros from its own funds.
The company's first project, a small one, 156 apartments in Colentina, will be finalised next summer.
Until then, the company will also start work on another 3 of the 17 housing complexes this year that it plans to develop, which will include over 1,000 apartments in Pipera-Tunari area requiring investments worth around 140m euros.
One of the projects, called Lumiere, will include 550 apartments in 4-storey blocks, while another one, Atrium, will have 220 apartments and a solar panel heating system, while the third will include 350 apartments.
In the first project of Colentina, Blue Tower, half of apartments were sold to Norwegian investment fund Romania Invest, with the complex being 80% contracted in advance.
Despite being one of the most upbeat investors in the real estate market, given estimates on housing demand in Bucharest, Singh says sales to investors are part of the risk-sharing strategy that characterises new businesses.
Despite the falling number of deals since the start of this year, the most important criterion in estimating the real housing demand nationwide is the ratio between the volume of real estate loans and GDP, of around 2.5%, around 4 times smaller than in other states of the region.
Copper Beach plans to develop two large projects in towns north of Bucharest, which each include 5,000 h01omes, built for different categories. One will be developed 20 km away from Otopeni, on a 350-hectare plot of land, and will include villas and luxury apartments, a luxury hotel and an IT park.
The company also plans to be a pioneer on the segment of affordable housing, through a project northwest of Bucharest.
Copper Beech
Is held by Diwaker Singh and another 22 investors from London and currently owns 600 hectares of land in Bucharest and towns surrounding it, for which it paid around 55m euros from its own funds
Its first project, a small one, 156 apartments in Colentina, will be finalised next summer
This year will also start construction works for another 3 of the 17 housing complexes it plans to develop
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