Subhas has been one of the best real estate industry stalwarts the industry has witnessed so far. He has an overall experience of 26 years which; he started in the mid-’90s and became a real expert in the industry. Subhas was in the Marketing field before he stepped into the real estate Industry. The real estate journey started with India Home a Citi Bank Associate in the professional & home loans department. He then came close to real estate as time passed, and he gained experience. However, he believed that commercial real estate did not have an appeal in the market in 1993-94. Earlier, Nariman Point was the only commercial hub of the industry due to its proximity to the Head Offices of all the PSU banks and the RBI.
Subhas later got involved in the Property Power, which was a product that the Citi Bank gave loans to people interested in buying / mortgaging residential & commercial properties from Citi Bank empaneled ‘A’ Grade developers. Citi Bank has been a pioneer in most financial products. In those days Real Estate was a highly unorganized & unregulated industry. Subsequently, Subhas joined Colliers Jardine, a large International Property Consultants which had then recently started its operations in India and one of the initial few real estate consultancy companies set to bring about a paradigm change in Real Estate transactions with ethics and transparency, and from that moment on it was all real estate for him with a new journey and new challenges. His ancestors predicted it way earlier that Subhas would be within Iron & Steel or Real Estate Industry which turned true. It has always been his passion, and he never stopped gaining knowledge from any & every source possible. Subhas stated loyalty, integrity, hard-working and man management as essential aspects of overcoming any difficulty in your way to achieving your goals.
Subhas finds himself fortunate to make excellent relationships throughout his journey in the industry, which became the reason he has lasted so long successfully. In 2008, the global slowdown came with many challenges and difficulties that tested every business’s philosophy. Subhas, as Development Director, Regus Business Centre was clueless in those situations but still kept his calm and used all the experience he had in overcoming the challenges better and more smoothly. Since the businesses were going through challenging times hitting the revenues the only mantra for survival was to cut operational costs, overheads and embrace austerity measures. As regards the operational cost cuttings, Subhas and his team put their thinking together and came strongly with strategies. The major cost in commercial real estate is the outflow of monthly rental payables. He and his team managed to save INR 8,000,000 per month by renegotiating with the then-existing Owners and Landlords thus stabilizing the situation. In those times, Revenue/ Profit sharing deals & Management Contracts were common in the F&B and the Retail Industry, and unheard of for commercial offices, Subhas introduced it very effectively for Regus in taking commercial properties for further expansion in India. They ranged from about 30 to 40 centers throughout and managed to save a massive amount of capital.
Subhas at first thought the processes very hectic convincing the landlord but still managed through the tough times but got smooth later on. Getting everything together and sorting it out brings positivity in the environment to fight every single challenge. As a result, Subhas became a key management figure where his views were seriously considered before every significant decision was taken. Getting that kind of recognition became a defining moment of his career. He advised that Politeness and patience listen to your client’s problems & queries and then provide them with tailor-made remedies/ solution helps an individual long way in achieving success. Not by running away from the client’s problems.
According to Subhas, good efficient Co-ordination helps you manage every project and segregates the processes to work in a disciplined manner. Timelines are very important, which makes you systematic and be conscious. The right person at the right place improves the creativity one can focus on in bringing out the best from them. Proper planning is significant means getting what’s there on the paper to the ground. Every individual with suitable responsibilities is the one to take up the tasks and get the project done. Real estate majorly depends on government policies and further infrastructural developments.
Coworking which was a novelty before the pandemic will be the next hybrid working model for every industry to keep things going in this global pandemic. Subhas believes that there’s a new learning in every project. Also, significant changes will be witnessed in tier 2 and tier 3 cities for future developments.
“Be cautious, keep every option open to you and give a thought before every step. “- Subhas Bhat
