ICS Group saw an interesting niche and emerging opportunity in the Indian retail property development and management space. To capitalise on this, it partnered Old Mutual Property, a renowned asset management and property development/ management company from South Africa (OMP). This lead to the formation of Pioneer Property Zone (PPZ) in 2005.

OMP is part of the US$500 bn (approximate funds under management as of December 2010 –GBP 309 bn) Old Mutual PLc Group, which is listed in the UK. OMP has been operational for more than 50 years in South Africa and currently manages US$ 3.3 billion with over 28 million sq ft gross lettable area, accommodating over 4,400 tenants (all stats as of April 2011). OMP are pioneers in Green Buildings and over the years has developed and managed several celebrated retail developments in South Africa including, the multiple award winning Riverside Mall, The Gateway Theatre of Shopping, Menlyn Park, Vincent Park, Cavendish Square, to name a few.

PPZ is headquartered in Mumbai and currently employs over 110 qualified management personnel & this number is expected to be double by end of 2013. PPZ has been involved with development and management of over 17 million sq ft of retail space pan India. The company has 4 operational malls under management, with 3 more projects in the pipeline, opening every 6 months. Collectively they manage over 1800 retail stores in all projects. It services clients on the entire value chain – from land acquisition to developing and managing the asset.

Since its incorporation, PPZ has been active in introducing international best practices in the development and management of retail centric assets mixed use projects in India. PPZ has a unique ability to provide complete end to end property solutions, with the objective of creating successful retail centric assets, generating superlative returns to its stakeholders and providing complete retail experience to the end customers. A successful retail centre acts as a catalyst and increases the value proposition of the larger mixed used development, resulting in superior realisations for the other components of the mixed use development - residential, commercial, hospitality and other commercial usages.

The services provided by PPZ can be broadly categorized to include:

• Investment Advisory Services
• Project Conceptualization & Design Development
• Leasing, Tenant Mix & Lease Management
• Project Management
• Property Management
• Tenant Co-ordination
  
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  Some of the key projects of PPZ are:

Completed Projects

• Mantri Square, Bangalore
• Metrozone, Chennai 
• Viva Zone, Mumbai 
   

Current Projects

• Pacific Mall, New Delhi
• R-City Mall, Mumbai
• Kumar Pacific, Pune
• Vega City, Bangalore
• Suraj Mall, Bangalore
• Vivacity, Thane
• Lotus Mall, Mangalore
• DIL, Thane
• L&T, Mumbai
• Koregaon Park Plaza, Pune
• Prozone Liberty, Nagpur
• Prozone Liberty, Coimbatore
• DB Mall, Bhopal

Awards

• Pioneer Property Zone - IMAGES Most Admired Shopping Centre Management Company of the Year - by IMAGES Shopping Centre Awards 2012
• R City Mall, Mumbai - Shopping Centre of the year award at the Asia Retail Congress 2012
• R City Mall, Mumbai - Retail Property of the year award at the Realty Plus Excellence awards 2012
• Pacific Delhi - Most admired shopping centre launch of the year award at ISCF 2011

•   For more information please visit the Pioneer Property Zone’s website www.propertyzoneindia.com