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As you drive through the streets of Bengaluru – the city where Prestige was born in 1986, witnessed an unprecedented growth and is today headquartered; you will find the Falcon dotting the landscape. The mighty Falcon, which is the icon of the Prestige Group, has now come to be associated with world class infrastructure, trust and quality. In fact, the story of the emergence of Bengaluru as the Silicon Valley of India would remain incomplete without a mention of the role of the Prestige Group in creating the enabling infrastructure. Today the group has a presence across all real estate asset classes, from homes to offices to retail, hospitality, leisure business and IT Parks and SEZs.
Millions of square feet and still growing:
As on date, the company has completed 212 projects covering over 84 million square feet of space. The company has 51 ongoing projects generating 53 million square feet, 48 mn sft of upcoming projects and holds a land bank of 424 acres with potential developable area of over 42 mn sft. As much as Bengaluru bets on Prestige, Prestige, too, bets on Bengaluru with 85% of its portfolio standing on home turf. The company has over 160 properties in Bengaluru alone. More recently, it has expanded its footprint to Chennai, Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi, Mangaluru and Mysore. Prestige Acropolis is one of Bengaluru’s first luxury residential developments. Forum Mall is Bengaluru’s first and most successful retail mall. Prestige Shantiniketan is the city’s first wholly integrated township project. The Collection, UB City, built in partnership with the UB Group, is South India’s first luxury mall. Prestige Bluechip Tech Park in Koramangala was among the first of its kind and was built in the early 2000s.
Today the Prestige Tech Park, with an offering of six million square feet is among the largest in the city. The group also has huge spaces occupied by a single tenant, like the Cessna Business Park where Cisco occupies 3.5 million square feet. The company also has tie-ups with worldclass hospitality brands like the Hilton-Conrad, Sheraton, Marriott. And the list goes on…
Banking on Trust:
But more than all the space that it has created, the group’s most significant achievement, perhaps, has been to convert the real estate industry from one that was treated with suspicion to one that commands trust.
As Irfan Razack, the group’s Chairman and Managing Director, himself says:
“In the past, real estate was treated with a considerable amount of suspicion and apprehension by the wider public due to the lack of regulatory oversight and a large number of unscrupulous developers who often took buyers’ money and either delivered poor quality final products or, in many unfortunate circumstances, failed to deliver at all. The industry was crying out for ethical, dependable and transparent developers and I am proud to say that Prestige was at the forefront of that revolution and set many benchmarks.”
This ability to build a trust-based relationship with all stakeholders – be they, buyers, architects, suppliers or employees – has enabled the group to become an industry leader. Trust, combined with ethics and high-quality infrastructure at affordable prices has become the hallmark of business at Prestige. The group’s core value is based on the 7 Cs concept – Comprehensive, Capable, Competent, Consistent, Credible, Cost Effective and Confidence. Today, more than the land bank in its possession, the group’s highest performing asset is the customer’s faith in its ability to deliver what is promised.
Strong after-sales and communications:
Moreover, a sound after-sales strategy has further strengthened Prestige’s leadership position in the market.
At Prestige, all client queries, past or present, are dealt with a similar sense of urgency and commitment. Past clients are not forgotten. Thus, the relationship with them doesn’t end with a sale. It is in line with this philosophy that the Prestige Property Management and Services (PPMS) was set up in 1996 to provide high quality maintenance and post construction care for all Prestige developments. The Prestige Group can be credited to be the first builder in India to come up with a dedicated company for post-construction care. The 950-member team consists of highly skilled workers who are specially trained to maintain the impeccable standards that are the hallmark of all Prestige developments. In order to keep every customer, both in the country and overseas abreast of all developments, the group has created ‘Falcon News’, which is not just an award winning magazine, but is one of the group’s strongest communication tools. It has grown to be recognized as a magazine in its own right with a circulation of over 27,000, targeting customers and all other stakeholders.
The company also publishes a premium luxury lifestyle magazine called ‘The Luxury Collection’ which circulated to HNIs in India and abroad. It is also available on stands nationally and is placed in many luxury pockets across the globe like the Four Seasons Hotel – Paris and Chicago, The Dorchestor Collection Hotels, Yacht Clubs and across multiple luxury hotels in India. The content of the magazine is focused on luxury retail brands, travel, food and wine, international events, art and all things Luxury, with special focus on international and national brands within The Collection, UB City – South India’s only luxury mall and a joint venture between the Prestige Group and the UB Group.
Additionally, Prestige puts a lot of thought, creativity, innovation and planning into each and every marketing and advertising campaign for its various offerings. The communication practices are based on the principle that a client must feel the property that is being launched. They are designed as works of art, taking them way beyond a plain vanilla marketing pitch. Testimony to this is the fact that the company has received several awards for its innovative approach.
The company has a strong online presence and all details and developments related to the company can be found on its website. Moreover, the Prestige Group provides an application where homebuyers can track the progress of the projects that they have invested in. This creates transparency while making the company more accountable to its clients. Billboards across the city also give information on Prestige’s latest offerings, further creating top-of-mind recall for the brand.
Clearly, a brand is not built over a day. Yet, age alone cannot build a brand. The Prestige Group appears to have got the formula right.
