JLL India launches Developer Solutions platform to be run by Siva Krishnan

Having bolstered its Indian operations with two senior appointments earlier this year, Chicago-based property consulting firm JLL has launched a platform in India specifically for the developer community, offering comprehensive solutions for all stages of the development process. The new vertical will be headed by the freshly appointed Managing Director Siva Krishnan. 

Founded in 1999, JLL is a professional services and investment management firm with a specialisation in the real estate domain. The firm has been operational in India for two decades, and has grown into one of the primary real estate consulting firms, currently operating with more than 9,500 employees spread across 10 cities, including the major financial centres of Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. 

The demand for real estate in Indian urban centres is never-ending. In 2016, management consultancy Bain & Company predicted that the demand for residential real estate in India was set to grow at 9% per annum up till 2020. On the commercial side of things, recent reports have suggested that India’s top eight cities are set to add more than 30 shopping centres, also by 2020, while other reports have suggested that this growth will extend to smaller cities as well.

As a real-estate consultancy, JLL has been active in its efforts to match this demand. Earlier this year, the firm appointed Juggy Marwaha and Aveek Sinha to its senior ranks as Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer respectively. Now, the firm has re-appointed Siva Krishnan as Managing Director, who is charged with leading JLL’s brand new platform: Developer Solutions.

The new vertical has been designed as a multifaceted team with a pan-India reach, targeted at eliminating the multiple intermediaries and location-based complications that arise during major construction projects in India. The team has been formed from the merger of the firm’s Land Services and Strategic Consulting divisions, which will combine to form a new strategic business unit by the name of Developer Initiatives.

The head of this new vertical, Siva Krishnan, is the former Vice President and Deputy Chief Operating Officer of Residential Services at JLL, who previously left the firm in 2013 to join CBRE as the India head of Residential Services. Krishnan has two decades of experience at the executive level, having worked with high profile firms such as Total, ICICI Bank, and HDFC.

In his new capacity, Krishnan will reorient the Strategy Consulting and Land Services portfolios to adopt the developers’ perspective, to better understand the challenges faced by the community and devise holistic solutions. Developer Solutions will integrate JLL’s expertise from a variety of other divisions, including Funding & Investment, Office Retail & Brokerage, Property Management, Constructions Management, and several others.

Commenting on his new role, Krishnan said, “I am extremely pleased to be back with JLL and look forward to working with a team of talented professionals in making our new client-focused platform a success. This new business initiative will ensure that developers are able to lead the forward march of the sector and are armed with strategic business solutions to maximise benefits from the country's growing economic strengths and latent demand for real estate. Through this new platform, I am confident that we will not only be able to add exponential value to mainline developers, but also offer unique solutions to mid-tier developers across the length and breadth of the country.”

CEO of JLL, Ramesh Nair added, “Developer Solutions provides access to our developer clients for utilising JLL's wide range of expertise, through a structured and integrated business solutions approach. As developer side businesses become more complex and competitive, a service such as Developer Solutions will expand the builders' ability to create multi-level strategies for their businesses and ensure success within minimum lead times. As we move into a renewed phase of growth, the focus is not only on expanding our leadership, but also offering unique solutions to proactively render success to the development community.”