How This Real Estate Newbie Made a Killing With His Trump Card

Before the apartments are handed over to buyers in the coming months, executives of The Trump Organization, the business venture of US President Donald Trump, will fly down for a customary inspection.

When the project, which is being co-developed by Mumbai-headquartered Tribeca Developers and Gurugram-based M3M Group, was launched in January 2018, demand for high-end homes in India’s real estate market had been tepid for 3-4 years. Yet, the Trump project sold nearly 100 out of 258 apartments within a month of launch.

India is home to four luxury residential Trump Tower projects—one each in Pune, Gurugram, Mumbai, and Kolkata. The Gurugram and Kolkata projects are scheduled for delivery to buyers this year.

Now, seven years after the launch of the Gurugram project, Tribeca Developers is gearing up to launch multiple Trump projects across India.

The first of these new Trump-branded developments, the Trump World Center Pune that was announced in March, marks the Trump Organization’s entry into India’s commercial real estate market.

Three residential projects will be announced in north and south India, with total investments in the new projects adding up to ₹6,000-7,000 crore, making India the largest and most important overseas market for the Trump Organization. (The Trump Organization doesn’t invest directly in its properties in India, but collects royalties for licensing its brand.)

Driving Trump’s real estate expansion in India, spanning over a decade, is Tribeca’s founder, Kalpesh Mehta, a first-generation real estate entrepreneur. From being a brand licensing partner and then a co-developer of Trump projects in India, to building Tribeca’s own niche residential company, Mehta has had a unique real estate journey.

Building from scratch

In one of his early meetings with Donald Trump, Mehta asked him: What advice would you give me as a developer just starting out?

Trump replied: Do what I did—don’t go after too many projects. Do a few but make sure that every project is a landmark, because the market will pay you for it.

Real estate, though, was not the first calling for Mehta. Born into a family of architects, Mehta thought he would follow suit. But a year into an architecture course at a Mumbai college he dropped out, realizing it was not cut out for him. He left to study computer science in the US, and later joined the Wharton School of Business’ MBA program in real estate and finance.

“Wharton kind of brought me to real estate,” Mehta said in an interview with Mint.

Following his MBA, Mehta began his career at global investment firm Carlyle in New York City, investing in high-end condominium projects. In 2007, he returned to India as a vice-president in Lehman Brothers’ real estate private equity division. In 2008, Lehman declared bankruptcy as the global financial crisis unfolded, which brutally impacted the real estate sector both globally and in India.

And yet, Mehta took a bold bet on the Indian market. Along with his team at Lehman, he orchestrated a management buyout of the division’s general partner (the person responsible for managing a private equity fund). Mehta continued to work at Lehman till 2010-11, followed by a short stint at Rohan Lifescapes, a Mumbai property firm.

In 2012, Mehta started Tribeca Developers, named after the eponymous neighbourhood he lived in while in New York.

“The thesis behind Tribeca was simple: we wanted to do trophy, luxury projects. But to become a developer, a lot of capital, land bank, or a corporate brand was needed as an entry point. You needed (at least) two of the three,” said Mehta, now 46 years old. “We had no experience in land dealing and no brand. I had no idea how difficult it was going to be. It was a risky bet in hindsight.”

Tribeca opted to go down the joint venture or development management route with an asset-light model, which is less capital intensive. But India’s real estate sector was still going through a slowdown, with not much appetite for high-ended projects.

Fortuitously for Mehta, he had a Trump connection that served as a propellant for Tribeca. His Wharton professor and mentor Peter Linneman, also a well-known real estate personality, had also been a mentor to Trump’s three children—Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump. Through Linneman, Mehta had met Trump Jr. in 2010.

“He made the marriage happen. The early deal between Tribeca and Trump was conceived and closed between Don (Jr.) and me at a dinner. We wrote the deal points on the back of a cocktail napkin,” Mehta said.

While Trump Jr. was involved in the Trump Organization’s real estate business in India for many years, it is younger son Eric Trump, executive vice-president of Trump Organization, who is now more actively involved in the upcoming developments.

Despite a few initial hiccups, through the association with the Trump Organization and its own developments, Tribeca is now developing over 6 million sq.ft. of branded residential projects in India with a sale value of ₹6,000 crore, and has a development pipeline of over 4 million sq.ft.

Mehta’s journey: From rookie developer to Trump’s India partner

2010: Kalpesh Mehta connects with Donald Trump Jr. through Wharton professor Peter Linneman, laying the groundwork for a future collaboration.

2012: Mehta establishes Tribeca Developers with a focus on luxury residential projects, despite having no land bank or corporate backing.

2013-2014: Tribeca secures exclusive brand licensing rights for the Trump Organization in India.

2017-2018: Tribeca moves from being just a brand licensing partner to a co-developer for the Trump Organization in India, launching Trump Towers in Gurugram and Kolkata.

2018: Despite a sluggish luxury real estate market, Trump Towers Gurugram sells nearly 100 apartments within a month of launch.

2019: Tribeca partners with HDFC Capital Advisors, creating a ₹500 crore platform for residential projects.

2020-2022: Tribeca successfully turns around two stuck projects in Pune and Mumbai, selling out its central Mumbai project in a month for ₹1,000 crore.

2022: Trump Jr. visits India for Tribeca’s 10th-anniversary celebrations, solidifying their long-term partnership.

2024: Tribeca announces new Trump projects in Noida and Hyderabad, as well as its own independent projects in Pune, Mumbai, and Gurugram.

2024-2025: Tribeca targets ₹2,500 crore in sales, increasing to ₹3,500 crore in 2025-26.

Trump’s Tribeca card

When Trump Jr. flew down to India in 2022 to attend Tribeca’s 10th anniversary party in Pune, he gave a glimpse into his strategy for investing in India’s real estate market, which was still reeling from the pandemic.

“Despite the adversities, and more than any building, any deal, any financial upside, is the honour of the friendship (with Kalpesh). If Kalpesh tells me that it’s good, I will trust him. A lot of people have big ideas; not everyone can convert that into a success,” Trump Jr. said.

Before associating with Tribeca, the Trump Organization had found it tough establishing its business in India while chiefly operating out of New York. Trump Jr. had made a couple of trips to India but hadn’t made any headway in finalizing projects.

At first, the Trump Organization gave Tribeca exclusive brand licensing rights for India. Tribeca would then license the Trump brand to project developers and split the fee with the Trump Organization, which would get the majority share.

After the first two deals—with Lodha Developers for Trump Tower in Mumbai and with Panchshil Realty for the Trump Tower in Pune—it was decided that Tribeca would be a co-developer of Trump projects in India.

“I remember asking Don if he was sure about this because Tribeca hadn’t built anything till then. He said he would rather bet on my potential and vision versus other developers in India,” said Mehta.

Tribeca then stepped in as co-developer for two projects: Trump Towers Gurugram with M3M, and Trump Towers Kolkata with Unimark Group and RDB Group. The two projects were launched back-to-back in 2017-18.

“Our first project was a 1.2 million sq.ft. luxury development with the Trump brand. We had four people in our team at that time,” Mehta said.

Anuj Puri, chairman of property advisory Anarock Group, said the Trump Organization’s premium positioning and quality had been already established with its first two India projects—in Mumbai and Pune, developed by Lodha Developers and Panchshil Realty. “So, for the Gurugram and Kolkata launches, the Trump brand was a huge draw that triggered sales. People wanted to live in a Trump Tower.”

Tribeca beyond Trump

Donald Trump visited India for the first time in 2014 for the launch of Trump Tower Mumbai developed by Lodha Developers. He toured the show flat, and then visited the Pune project built by Panchshil Realty.

“His obsession with product and eye for detail is phenomenal. In the Pune project, Mr. Trump noticed these massive marble slabs put in the bathroom. He called a construction executive and asked how they were brought in. When the person said they were brought in manually, Mr. Trump hugged him,” said Mehta, who witnessed the interaction.

Mehta credited Tribeca’s collaboration with the Trump Organization as critical to his company taking up its own projects now, independent of its US partner.

With two Trump projects in its kitty, Tribeca along with HDFC Capital Advisors set up a ₹500 crore platform in 2019 to develop residential projects. The first project under the platform, in Gurugram, raised ₹135 crore from HDFC Capital. It was planned as a housing project and later converted into a plotted development.

Tribeca, which also has the backing of ICICI Bank and Tata Capital, then went on to sign projects in Pune and Mumbai. Both these projects had been declared non-performing assets by lenders.

Tribeca acquired a 51% controlling stake in the Pune project, called ‘The Ark’, turned it around, and launched it. It similarly took control of the project in central Mumbai, which sold out 228 apartments in the first tower within a month of its launch, generating ₹1,000 crore in sales.

“It took us over a decade to reach six projects. In 2024, we doubled in size, adding six projects with a gross development value of ₹10,000 crore, including Tribeca’s own and Trump-branded projects,” said Mehta.

Going forward, Mehta’s strategy is for Tribeca to handle its own projects in Pune, Mumbai and Gurugram. Trump-branded projects will expand to two new cities—Noida and Hyderabad. In 2024-25, Tribeca aims to clock around ₹2,500 crore in sales and increase that to ₹3,500 crore in 2025-26.

Can Trump-Tribeca recreate the magic?

India’s luxury residential landscape has transformed since the pandemic, with wealthy individuals buying trophy residences both for personal use and investment.

Last year, 59 ultra luxury homes priced over ₹40 crore were sold for ₹4,754 crore. At least 17 of the homes were priced at over ₹100 crore each, as per Anarock. In the December-ended quarter, DLF Ltd clocked ₹11,816 crore of sales from a single project—‘The Dahlias’ in Gurugram.

Buyers of luxury homes are spoilt for choice today, said Anarock’s Puri. “Still, Trump Tower projects will retain their attraction. In his second term as (US) president, the visibility of Trump is so high that Trump-branded projects will attract good demand in India.”

President Trump’s impact is already evident in the Gurugram Trump Towers project, with its price shooting up from ₹16,000 per sq.ft. at launch to about ₹40,000 per sq.ft. now, according to Pankaj Bansal, director at M3M Group.

“The project has traded well in the secondary market, and in the last one year, startup owners and NRIs (non-resident Indians) have bought homes from the initial investors,” Bansal said.

But it’s not always been a fairytale ride for foreign branded residences in India, a category that has seen mixed response in the past. Several foreign realty brands announced plans for India or even launched a project or two but couldn’t progress beyond that.

“A decade back, the market was not ready,” said Ashwin Chadha, chief executive, India Sotheby’s International Realty. “(Now) discerning customers are asking for them. Through our global network, we are in touch with brands and exploring tie-ups to get them in India.”

Mehta believes the new Trump projects will do well. “The brand has been curated nicely over the last decade, and is in a much better position now,” he said. As for projects independent of the Trump Organization, Mehta is confident Tribeca over the past decade has been able to establish itself as a premium developer. “At some point, we would do a public listing. But for now, we are looking at rapid expansion.”

Source : Live Mint