CHENNAI: Appaswamy Real Estates is expanding its presence across residential real estate and hospitality, with a five-million-sq-ft project pipeline valued at around Rs 8,000 crore in Chennai and a $150-180 million investment in a new ultra-luxury resort in the Maldives.

The group, which has traditionally been identified with Chennai's residential real estate market, is looking to build its hospitality portfolio alongside its core property business, with new projects in Madurai, Mysore and the Maldives.

"We are progressing parallelly in both the real estate and hospitality sectors," Ravi Appaswamy, chairman, Appaswamy Real Estates, said in a recent interaction.

The overseas hospitality push is particularly significant. The entity is developing a second property in the Maldives on a separate 60-acre island, featuring around 30 island villas and 60 overwater villas. The project, which will operate under Marriott's ultra-luxury Edition brand, is expected to be completed in 12-15 months.

"We'll be spending about anywhere between $150 million and $180 million," Appaswamy said, adding that more than 50% of the funding would be through internal accruals, with the balance coming through debt.

The group already operates a Maldives property under Marriott's St Regis brand, which has been running for around a decade. Both properties are wholly owned by the group.

In Tamil Nadu, the hospitality expansion is moving beyond conventional business destinations to temple towns.

Having recently opened a nearly 200-room hotel in Madurai, the group is exploring opportunities in Kumbakonam and Tiruchy.

The Madurai property, located close to the airport, is designed to tap the growing meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) market in southern Tamil Nadu. Its conference infrastructure includes a hall that can accommodate 2,000 people at a time, besides multiple other halls and around 80,000 sq ft of supporting event space.

"It will open the gate for southern Tamil Nadu for bringing in a lot of conferences and the MICE market. We have already started receiving a lot of inquiries," Appaswamy said, citing State Bank of India's three-day annual conclave at the property as an example.

The group's hospitality portfolio currently comprises more than 900 rooms and is approaching the 1,000-room mark.

Meanwhile, its real estate business has a five-million-sq-ft pipeline in Chennai, with an estimated gross development value of Rs 8,000 crore. The portfolio spans multiple price points, from Rs 70-80 lakh to Rs 8-10 crore and above.

The company is also preparing premium residential developments in Adyar and Thiruvanmiyur, including homes priced upwards of Rs 15 crore. At the other end of the market, a project near the airport, close to the Nanganallur subway, will comprise over 600 apartments priced between Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 4 crore.

Appaswamy believes Chennai's traditionally conservative housing market is changing, supported by rising incomes and a growing appetite for upgrading homes.

"People want to upgrade themselves. People who don't want to buy individual villas, considering the conveniences and availability of land, are looking at these kinds of opportunities," he said.

He also pointed to the recurring nature of residential property purchases across generations. "For anyone, the first tangible investment in their career is real estate. It could be land, an entry-level apartment or an upgrade.

Then, when they are saturated, they start buying for the next generation. There is a constant investment happening in real estate, historically, and that continues."

On the operational front, labour availability and rising construction costs are prompting the company to increase automation and prefabrication. "We are trying to do a lot of automation. A lot of prefab, and less labour interaction in terms of finishes," he said, adding that factory-finished components were also being increasingly used.

The group aims to complete projects within three years of commencement.