Boutique Luxury Apartments Just Part Of Developer’s Projects

High-end apartments on Billionaire’s Row, together with quality student accommodation are all part of Niveda Realty’s company vision as founder Dhaval Mistry celebrates the company’s first ten years in business.

Congratulations on Niveda’s tenth anniversary year in business, how did it all begin?

The story of Niveda began after we finished university in 2010. As we assessed our futures collectively, we wanted to work on something that could channel our entrepreneurship and play to our creativity and analytical skills.

I was personally inspired by my uncle, a successful hotelier and restaurateur across Europe and I wanted to build upon that level of success. Initially, we built a real estate investment company on a much smaller scale, to manage our own families’ wealth. Niveda grew from there – we put the right systems in place and the company has developed to managing £200m worth of assets, as well as achieving over one million square feet of planning for developments in the UK.

What’s in the pipeline at the moment?

Niveda is set to complete Crossways towards the end of this year. Crossways is a residential project of nine stunning boutique apartments on the iconic Billionaire’s Row in Hampstead; we are so excited to see this project move into completion whilst bringing an essence of affordability and modern, luxury living to The Bishops Avenue.

Furthermore, we are expanding the Calico brand, which focuses on the PBSA (Purpose Built Student Accommodation) sector. We started with the delivery of Calico Liverpool, a pioneering new breed of high-end student accommodation in the heart of the city’s ‘Knowledge Quarter’ and our second scheme, Calico Sheffield, will be delivered in 2024.

Bowline is also another student accommodation and mixed-use development in Liverpool, which will complete in July 2021. We are working hard on delivering our vision of creating a pioneering PBSA portfolio of 3,000 beds across the UK. With almost 2,000 beds under the belt, we are currently identifying sites in strong University cities for a further 1,000 beds.

Niveda also plans to build a further platform for co-living and PRS – the aspiration is to build under this model for up to 3,500 residents. We are aiming to expand our portfolio to suit the everchanging needs of society and the real estate market. Across the business, we want to provide more spaces with co-living which is proving a healthy, affordable and flexible way to live in the UK.

Which areas of the world are creating the most exciting property opportunities at the moment?

As a business, we are very focused on our beloved home – the UK. We believe the growing economy provides plenty of opportunities for expansion in the thriving real estate market, especially when we look at UK cities that are growing and evolving culturally.

Crossways

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on your business in this last year?

Like all businesses, we have felt the impact of Covid-19 throughout this unprecedented year. We have experienced inevitable delays across our projects, through a slowdown in construction and timelines in new projects being extended. Nonetheless, the pandemic has highlighted to the industry that the student accommodation sector is a strong and vital sector of real estate to invest in, which has further endorsed the rationale behind the Calico portfolio. Whilst we work closely in supporting our customers, the students, who have felt a significant impact on life with Covid-19, we also continue to deliver Calico to meet the growing demand for safe havens for young people to live and work.

Your offices are based in central London, do you sense a longer-term change to people’s life/work patterns as a result of the current pandemic?

Definitely. As a business we have planned at least two out of five home-working days going forward, as all of us are family people and we want to get that balance right. There are excellent benefits to working from home, and the practice will continue to be productive, even in the longer term.

You are active in what you describe as ‘innovative philanthropy’, can you explain a bit more about what that means and why you feel it’s important for business to give something back?

Throughout my career, my aim has been to combine business with social responsibility. This is an important core value of Niveda – for example, we have explored how we can increase sustainability and generate a positive impact on the environment with Calico Liverpool. For every booking that is completed, the business ensures that ten trees are planted. By 2025, as the Calico portfolio becomes fully developed, 30,000 trees will be planted annually across the world.

It’s very important to me from a personal growth point of view that I am able to contribute positively to the world in a way that goes beyond any financial reward. I am working with universities in India to bring technological advances through NGOs to bring economic growth in villages and communities that need it most.

And finally, what hopes, and aspirations do you have for Niveda in five years’ time?

Over the last ten years, we have refined the business model of Niveda where it is now scalable for significant growth. Our five-year goal is to grow the Niveda business to a £100m valuation with an aim to become a listed real estate business. We see Niveda being diverse in its capabilities of asset management, adapting to the needs of the decade, and it is exciting to move closer every day to the goals we have set out.

Find out more at www.niveda.com.