Yoo, the branded residential design and branding firm, will take charge of a 63-storey tower at the New Cuffe Parade development – just streets away from the world’s most expensive home.

The 23-acre site in Wadala, an upmarket district of Mumbai, is controlled by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) who sold the land for over USD 850 m in 2010. MMRDA plans to develop the region into Mumbai’s newest city centre. Owning up development of the entire internal infrastructure, it plans to transform it into a thriving international finance and business district.

The interiors of the project will be designed by Yoo Inspired by Starck, the design brand at Yoo under the creative direction of Philippe Starck, who co-founded Yoo with Mr Hitchcox.

The project will entail an investment by Lodha Group of over USD 2.03 bn over the next five to seven years.

John Hitchcox, chairman of Yoo, said: “New Cuffe Parade is set to be the jewel in the crown of India’s real estate revolution, offering buyers not just great design and amazing quality, but the brand value of Yoo that is now so sought after. Expanding into India has been extremely exciting for Yoo, and working with industry leaders like Lodha has taught me many things. With hundreds of millions of people across India and China moving into cities over the next decade, demand for branded housing will continue to grow, and we are excited by the prospects of taking Yoo’s premium brand to even more developments.”

Abhisheck Lodha, managing director of Lodha Group, said: “We are leading the way in creating truly luxurious homes for the Indian real estate market and part of our success is due to partnerships with world-leading brands like Yoo. Working with Yoo allows us to offer our customers greater quality design and a higher level of sophistication which, together with the Yoo brand, adds a lot of value to our product.

“Today’s discerning buyer is mindful of cutting-edge global trends, is widely travelled, exposed to the latest style vignettes and truly wants a superlative experience which is why we have chosen Yoo for this landmark project.”

Pranab Dutta, managing director, Knight Frank India, added: “As developers have concentrated more on luxury segments, the demand-supply equation has shifted, offering buyers a greater bargaining clout. Some developers have adopted their own unique positioning that has done wonders for them. So Hiranandani stands for ‘Community Living’, Mahindra for ‘Healthy Homes, Healthy Living’, the Tata Group and Godrej for trust and Lodha for ‘Luxury and Premium Living’. In each of these cases, the brand promise is a great pull.

“The Lodha group stands out for having brought some freshness in their communication strategies. Of late, it has brilliantly repositioned Wadala as the destination of the future.”