Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) has entered into an agreement with realty developer RMZ Corp to develop a commercial project on a 15-acre land parcel in Mumbai where the iconic Kamalistan Studio stands. Founded by filmmaker Kamal Arohi in 1958 Kamalistan Studio, in March 2022 Bengaluru-based RMZ Corp and CPP Investments had announced that they have entered into a JV to develop and hold commercial office space in key cities across India.
This was the second JV between RMZ Corp and CPPIB, following their first joint venture formed in 2021 to develop and manage around 10 mn sq ft of Grade A commercial office space across Hyderabad and Chennai. The total aggregated capital commitment by CPP Investment into the joint venture will be Rs 2,650 crore to support the development and acquisition of projects across India.
The Kamalistan redevelopment project will be undertaken through the joint platform that counts RMZ as the development partner. The proposed project will have a total 4.89 mn sq ft leasable commercial space across eight office towers.
A few years ago, Kamalistan’s production house Mahal Pictures entered into an understanding with RMZ Corp to sell and develop a part of this land along the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) into one of the largest corporate office parks. RMZ was expected to hold around 55% stake in the project while Mumbai-based DB Realty and a Pune-based developer which held stakes in Mahal Pictures were to hold the balance stake. However, DB Realty sold its stake a few years ago. The project now has RMZ and CPP Investments as key stakeholders.
RMZ is looking at hyper-growth strategy and is planning to grow its portfolio to 350 million sq ft of assets by 2032. It currently owns and operates a real assets portfolio of 67 mn sq ft. This project involving redevelopment of Kamalistan Studio is the latest example of an iconic film studio being converted into real-estate project.
