Driven by the zeal to make a mark in the commercial sector of the country, Pacific India – a privately owned and operated group of companies – has been conducting endeavors and operations with a remarkable degree of dynamism for the past 3 decades. The group has steadily emerged as the notable realty and infrastructure developer providing distinctive and specialized services in the Real Estate, Hospitality and Education sectors.
With more than 50 multi-crore projects in all its domains like retail, residential, education & hospitality, the matchless domain expertise of the conglomerate had been proven time and again. Some prolific projects by Pacific Group include Pacific Mall, Tagore Garden, Pacific Business Park, Sahibabad, Pacific Mall, Dwarka, Pacific Mall, Dehradun, Pacific Star Homes & Pacific Golf Estate, Dehradun.
In an exclusive interaction with IMAGES Retail, Abhishek Bansal, Executive Director, Pacific Group talks about the upcoming projects of the brand in 2021.
Tell us about the upcoming projects?
We have three upcoming malls in Delhi NCR, one is in Netaji Subhash Place, while the other one is opposite the Apollo hospital on Mathura road. There is an upcoming mall at NIT Faridabad as well.
How has this current state impacted the progress of upcoming malls in India?
Post the unlock, we have been devising strategies like alternating labor on our locations, ensuring there is required supply of raw materials. Medical facilities are available at the beck and call of the laborers working there.
How has COVID impacted the progress of upcoming malls? Kindly elaborate from your brand’s perspective.
Due to the lockdown, civil manpower was not available at full strength and this has impacted the timely delivery of projects. We are expecting a delay of 8-10 months in our upcoming projects.
What changes/learnings have you taken from the pandemic from an upcoming mall’s perspective?
The most long-term lesson has been planning maximum output from minimal resources. Since we have to go back to our core planning and strategizing due to the disruption caused by the lockdown. We are still in the reeling phase and would be following the same motto for the few coming months.
How are you dealing with construction, leasing, revenue, and manpower wrt the current crisis situation?
Construction is back in full swing, and we are aiming to rework our launch plans. The leasing was progressive post unlock, and although manpower and skilled labor availability were a challenge, we are working hard to get back on track.
How do you plan to prepare yourself for a similar situation in the coming times?
Our industry has seen some unfortunate and unforeseen times, we expect government policies to support us towards development & some relaxation be granted to the infrastructure industry as that will bring down the price of raw materials.
Consumer shopping behavior is set to change a lot, as is consumption post-COVID and lockdown. Will it impact your future retail mix?
The consumers have also had a very hard time being confined to their homes, but their shopping behavior has remained unchanged. Shopping remains the most preferred pastime for our patrons and we only plan to change our retail mix in the manner that it becomes more contactless and digitally viable.
What SOPs are you following in as far as mall construction and maintenance is concerned?
We are providing our laborers a medical check-up at regular intervals. Apart from this social distancing, mandatory temperature checks and sanitization is being followed to keep the environment safe for all.
Are your projects in the final phase of completion now?
Halted projects are on the verge of completion and should be ready in 2-3 months since work has resumed post unlock.
What are the brands that have confirmed their availability so far in your mall? How many have been added recently after the unlock phase?
We have brands from Landmark Group, Westside, Marks & Spencer among others that have confirmed their availability in our mall. There are other major anchors brands as well which are halfway through their fit-outs.
Any new innovations related to technology and consumer convenience that you have decided to include in your malls after the COVID situation?
We have incorporated the sanitization process of the public area / common areas and all our customers touch points.
