Citadines Chennai OMR Gateway

The Ascott Group, the serviced residence arm of CapitaLand Ltd, one of the largest listed real estate companies in Asia, has signed a joint venture agreement with The Rattha Group to acquire its fourth and largest property in India. Ascott said the property will be developed into a serviced residence. "This is part of Ascott's master development agreement (MDA) signed with Rattha in August 2006. The MDA aims to acquire and develop seven serviced residences in India by 2010," the company said in a statement. Ascott will acquire a 40 per cent equity stake in the property to be named Citadines Chennai OMR Gateway while Rattha will hold the remaining majority stake. Ascott will also manage the property for 10 years with an option to renew the management contract for another 10 years. Cameron Ong, Ascott's managing director and chief executive officer, described India as a key growth market for Ascott. India, however, lacks the supply of quality accommodation to meet the increasing demand from inter-city business travellers and expatriates, he said. "Ascott is the first international serviced residence company to enter Chennai. With the addition of Citadines Chennai OMR Gateway, Ascott has close to 1,000 units under development, and we are on track with our expansion target to achieve 2,000 units in India by 2010," he added. Ascott has three other properties in India - Somerset Whitefield in Bangalore, Somerset Greenways, Chennai and Citadines Chennai Boulevard - all of which are slated to open next year.