When Whiteland Corporation announced its partnership with Marriott, it marked one of the most significant branded residence tie-ups in India. The young Gurugram developer had set out to find the best name in hospitality for its residential project, and the partnership brought the global idea of branded living to the Dwarka Expressway.
For Sudeep Bhatt, Director Strategy at Whiteland Corporation and a former hotelier, the partnership was never simply about putting a globally recognised name on a residential project. It was about finding a partner whose standards matched the company's own ambition and building a product that could live up to that name.
In a conversation with Sapna Srivastava, Bhatt talks about how Whiteland got Marriott on board, why branded residences should be treated as a distinct asset class rather than another luxury real estate product, what happens to such projects after possession and how the company plans to grow without losing sight of the people at the centre of its business.
How Whiteland Got Marriott on Board
The partnership, Bhatt says, began with a fairly simple resolve: if Whiteland was going to enter branded residences, it wanted to work with the best.
The company studied the market before arriving at Marriott. For Bhatt, the choice was logical. Marriott is not only one of the biggest names in global hospitality, he says, but also one of the best. And, in his view, being the best is what eventually allows a company to become the biggest.
He sees such partnerships as relationships between two organisations where a meeting of minds matters as much as commercial considerations. What Marriott's leadership would have seen in Whiteland, he suggests, was a clear intent to build something worthy of the Marriott standard, along with the confidence that the developer had the ability to deliver it.
"That is how it started," he says.
A Trend, or an Asset Class?
Branded residences are still sometimes dismissed as a luxury trend, with sceptics arguing that brands come and go. Bhatt takes a different view.
The concept may still be relatively new in India, he says, but in developed economies branded residences have already emerged as a separate asset class with an identity of their own. As India's economy grows and consumers become more willing to spend on better living, he believes the country will move in the same direction.
The market, in his assessment, already has a potent segment of buyers willing to pay a premium for the category, particularly as consumer expectations around lifestyle and living have changed after COVID.
Branded residences are, of course, an extension of real estate. A hotel or a branded residence ultimately sits on real estate. But that does not mean developers can treat a branded residence like any other residential product.
That distinction, Bhatt argues, is critical. If developers fail to understand the category as something in its own right, they risk diluting not only the asset class but also the very brand they have brought into the project.
What Life Looks Like After Handover
For a buyer, however, the real test of a branded residence begins after possession. Bhatt draws a distinction between two broad kinds of branded developments. A non-hospitality brand, such as an apparel or automobile company, can bring its design language and brand sensibilities into a residential project and help create a product that reflects its identity.
But a home is not simply about how it looks.
It also requires services, and a non-hospitality brand must eventually figure out how those services will be delivered after possession, usually by bringing in a hospitality operator. This, Bhatt believes, is where hospitality-led branded residences have a natural advantage.
His experience as a hotelier informs that view. There is an important lesson from hospitality, he says: knowing what to do matters, but knowing what not to do matters even more because some mistakes cannot be undone.
"Knowing what to do is important. But more than that, it is important to know what not to do, because you cannot undo a thing."
For a branded residence, much of the groundwork therefore has to happen before possession. Intent, design understanding and execution all have to come together at the planning stage. If the product is designed from the beginning to accommodate a particular level of service, the transition into operations after handover becomes far more seamless.
For the buyer, that can also translate into an asset that depreciates less than a comparable non-branded property.
The brick, concrete and steel may ultimately be the same, Bhatt says, but the choice of materials matters. A well-designed and well-executed product can arrest the fall in value and allow for higher appreciation. Then comes the additional layer of service.
"Which is where the real magic for a branded residence happens."
What If the Brand Walks Away?
There is, however, an obvious question for buyers paying a premium for a brand: what happens if that brand is no longer associated with the project several years down the line?
And if that happens, does the developer's financial model still hold?
Bhatt is candid about the uncertainty. India, he points out, has no real precedent for such a situation, and it would be difficult to make a definitive judgment about something that has not yet occurred.
Instead, he draws an analogy from the hotel industry.
If one hotel operator leaves a property that has been designed and built to the required standards, another operator can step in because the underlying product has already been created with that sensibility in mind.
Across hotel categories, he explains, the room itself is largely common. What changes are the linen, the chef, the food and the people serving it. An Italian dish may be cooked in virgin olive oil at one place and extra virgin olive oil at another, but olive oil remains common to both.
The same principle, he says, can apply to branded residences.
If the underlying product has been designed correctly, another operator should be able to step in and deliver the services. When a hotel brand leaves, the asset does not remain empty. Another brand comes in and markets it under its own name.
In a branded residence, the apartments have already been sold. The incoming operator therefore only needs to step in and provide the required services.
There are, however, precautions that need to be taken from the beginning.
- Contracts between the developer and the brand must be foolproof.
- The law of the land must be respected.
- The developer must remain sensitive to the buyer's cost because, ultimately, the buyer pays for the entire equation.
A branded residence has three parties at its centre: the developer, the buyer and the brand on whose name the proposition rests. If the developer and the brand get the contracts and design sensibilities right, Bhatt sees little reason for such a situation to arise.
And if it does, he says, "we will cross the bridge once we come to it."
Growth Without Chasing Numbers
When the conversation turns to Whiteland's growth plans, Bhatt starts with philosophy rather than numbers.
The company, he says, is not chasing numbers for their own sake. Whiteland entered the business with an inherent intent to give buyers more than it promised, and customers remain "the centre of our universe."
That philosophy extends beyond the buyer.
Whiteland follows a people-first approach that covers both its internal customers, meaning employees, and its external stakeholders, including channel partners, vendors and clients.
Real estate, Bhatt points out, is not a business where one person can sit at a laptop and write code in isolation. It depends on people working together. Both internal and external stakeholders matter, but the company's philosophy is to take care of its employees first.
An employee who feels valued and sees personal growth alongside the growth of the organisation, he believes, is more likely to go the extra mile for buyers, vendors and channel partners.
The numbers, when they do enter the conversation, are ambitious.
Within roughly five years, Whiteland expects its project valuation from a top-line perspective to approach Rs. 18,000 – Rs. 20,000 crore.
But the company has no plans to expand into other geographies. Whiteland is still a young organisation, Bhatt says, and it understands Gurugram better than it understands other markets. Staying close to its strengths therefore makes more sense.
He also believes the Dwarka Expressway still has considerable potential. The next project is expected to be explored around the middle of next year.
The company's approach to individual projects is equally deliberate. Whiteland follows a one-project-at-a-time principle. It launches a project, ideates, executes and sells it, but does so slowly. Only when a project is around 90–95 percent complete does the company begin looking at the next one.
Class-Defining, Not Just Luxury
That philosophy also explains why Bhatt is reluctant to define Whiteland's future entirely through the word "luxury".
Luxury, he says, has become a clichéd term.
The company's ambition is instead to create developments that are class-defining. Whatever segment it enters, Whiteland wants to create a benchmark that others would want to emulate.
"That's a tall ask from a young developer," he admits, "but that is the standard we have set out for ourselves."
That approach extends to segments outside luxury housing.
The company has recently delivered a low-rise development in Gurugram in the affordable segment under the Haryana government's Deen Dayal Jan Awas Yojana. The scheme has seen changing developer sentiment, particularly around discussions over whether such projects can be taken up to a fourth floor and what that means for their viability.
Bhatt looks at the buyer market as a pyramid. There are more buyers at the base and progressively fewer as one moves higher up. In that context, he describes this category as one of the most affordable routes to owning a home.
People tell Whiteland that it is the best development delivered so far in the category, he says, although the company "doesn't brag on this."
Its first high-rise is scheduled for delivery next year, and Bhatt expects that project to be segment-defining as well. Positioned in the ₹10,000–11,000 price bracket, it is already 100 percent sold.
What he highlights is not simply the sales figure but the project's core configuration.
Nobody, he says, does a 2-2 core at this price point. A 4-2 core would have been much easier, and the arithmetic is straightforward. To accommodate 100 apartments in a tower, a 2-2 core would require 50 floors, whereas a 4-2 core would need only 25.
In real estate, he explains, the taller and sleeker the building becomes, the greater the requirement for labour and material and the longer the construction timeline. Time is money, while compliance requirements also increase with height.
Whiteland chose the 2-2 core anyway.
The objective, Bhatt says, is to establish a benchmark not just for the price at which the product is sold, but also for the amenities, facilities and overall environment that come with it.
The company also believes it has left enough value on the table for an investor entering the project to receive a fair share of the appreciation.
From Hotels to Homes
For someone who has spent years across hospitality and real estate, what keeps Bhatt excited about the business?
He begins with the familiar idea that when you enjoy what you do, it does not feel like work. His move from hospitality into real estate happened by chance, he says. Staying in the industry, however, has been a choice.
The reason comes down to the nature of the transaction. A hotelier sells a room or a table. Most people eventually lose count of the number of hotels they have stayed in or restaurants they have eaten at.
Ask them how many houses they own, however, and they will remember. A home is a high-ticket transaction, but its significance goes well beyond the price. It sits close to the heart, particularly in India.
In the familiar formulation of roti, kapda aur makaan, the home comes last, but it also brings the greatest sense of fulfilment, both emotional and financial.
Anyone who helps make that dream possible, Bhatt asks, is not someone you would remember?
For him, that is the real pull of the business. The opportunity to interact with people and help bring their dreams to life, he says, provides "a great high."
He sums up that philosophy in a simple Hindi phrase:
"Vyabhar mujhe kheechta hai, vyapar byproduct hai."
It is the relationship that draws him in. The business, he says, is the by-product.
