British Pakistani plans $650m investment by next year

Islamabad : As the government looks to the private sector for help to address the growing housing shortage in the country, a London-based major international property investment company has unveiled its plans to venture into real estate development.

British Pakistani Khalid Iqbal Bhatti told reporters here that having delivered $200 million real estate projects in the last five years and executing many more all over the world, his Daniel Johns Group was going to put up $130 million worth of modern luxury apartments, penthouses and commercial shops under one roof in Islamabad’s Bahria Enclave.

“As we say we don’t just build properties, we build futures, the ultra-modern nine-storey Ce La Vi development consisting of 357 luxurious apartments, prime office, retail and leisure space over one million square feet will not be merely a building, it’ll be a community, which everyone will be proud of,” he said.

The DJ Group founder and chairman said the project was all about his passion for Pakistan and ground breaking approach to property investment, which would culminate in an iconic and first-class development benefitting both investors and end-users.

He said for the first time, fully-serviced and luxury apartments would be designed with exclusive aesthetics and cutting-edge technological features. “Uniquely, the apartments will have relaxing garden spaces and will benefit from a five-star shopping mall, the first-ever 9D multiplex cinema in Pakistan, award-winning food outlets, and five-star UK-branded spa specialising in skin care and makeup,” he said.

Khalid Iqbal Bhatti said he saw Pakistan as a strong and happening market and therefore, he wanted to offer a place predominantly to overseas investors, where they would stay for a holiday period at no cost and which would be managed and rented for the remaining months to deliver reasonable returns.

“Our approach of property development says goodbye to the old days of overseas buyers having to first source and buy land, then build the property only then to start the time-consuming task of managing the properties in such a way that it is maintained not only to receive a healthy return but also to provide the overseas buyers themselves with a home, which they will only use at most for one to two months of the year,” he said. The DJ Group chairman said his group had mastered the art of investment in the Ce La Vi development with a focus on encouraging people not simply to buy property but to buy for their future.

He promised an additional investment of 500 million pounds ($ 650 million) into Pakistan by the end of 2020 saying his group will execute housing projects in Lahore and Gwadar and food franchise business across Pakistan.