FEATURE
Leasing Malls in the World’s Fastest Growing Economy P
ropbrowser started off as “Surlin Realty” in the year 2002, were primarily into high street retail transactions in the initial years and focused on tier 2, tier 3 and tier 4 markets where retailers were finding it difficult to get quality retail spaces. We helped retailers find spaces in smaller cities and towns across the length and breadth of the country. Many retailers developed trust and belief in us and used to depend on us to plan their tier 2, tier 3 expansion strategy. After more than 10 years of helping retailers to expand their high street presence, we opened our doors to the leasing of shopping malls and were renamed. This change was due to the fact that the promoters of Surlin Realty were part of few other ventures under the same brand name "Surlin" but decided to exit those ventures to focus more on the retail expansion firm. "Ramky Wavoo Developers" part of "Ramky Group" in Hyderabad picked up equity in our firm and we were renamed as "Propbrowser Retail Advisory India Pvt Ltd." The very first mall we leased was "Reliance Mall" at Salem in Tamilnadu, South India. Before the mall went operational, the team leased it out by 95%. This success made a name for us in the market as an agency which leases malls holistically and works towards leasing the mall completely in a phased and planned manner. The next few malls we picked up for leasing (as exclusive mandates) were Providence Mall (Pondicherry, South India)
and MGB Felicity Mall (Nellore, South India). Through a joint team effort, these malls were leased 100% before they went operational. MGB Felicity Mall was awarded at the prestigious “Indian Shopping Center Awards” for “Mall Occupancy Optimization.” Propbrowser has the highest number of exclusive mall leasing mandates across India as compared to any other international or Indian firm. We have 70 plus exclusive mall mandates and we work with more than 700 plus retailers across categories. Propbrowser now operates in India, Sri Lanka, UAE, Philippines and Indonesia and likely to expand further. In the UAE, Mr. Somnath, who has more than 15 years’ of experience in leasing and managing malls, heads Propbrowser. Over the next two years, we are planning to set up offices in all the emirates of the UAE as we see ample potential here. For more details on Propbrowser, visit us at www.probrowser.com. A few years back we started an architectural firm “Kreativ Design Studio Pvt Ltd” and went on to collaborate with an established 45-year-old Singaporean architectural firm “Envirotec Chartered Architects Pte Ltd” to form “Enviro-Kreativ Architects”. These two firms are focused on malls / retail interiors and are architects for more than 25 mall projects in India. More details about Kreativ on www.kreativarchitects.com.
SURESH PADMANABHAN, Founder & CEO, Propbrowser Retail Advisory Pvt Ltd. Founder of Kreativ Design Studio Pvt Ltd, Co-founder of commercial real estate builder firms Triguna Propbrowser Ventures Pvt Ltd., and IPB Realty Pvt Ltd., Co-Founder of a Recruitment and Training firm that had a pan Indian operation, Co-founder of an MBA college, Founder of one of the largest retail and mall leasing firms Propbrowser. 15 + years of experience in business and a successful track record of making startup businesses to perform, spread across real estate, retail, education, franchising, training, IT and management consulting. BE (ECE), MBA (Marketing management), Advanced Leadership Program (IIM – Bangalore).
42. RETAIL PEOPLE . AUG-SEP 2019