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John C. "Jack" Portman III, who found success in China at a time when most American businesses still considered it too risky, is moving into India to capture a piece of one of the most compelling markets in Asia.
John Portman & Associates and Portman Holdings L.P. have signed a joint venture with a major Indian conglomerate to design and develop three mixed-use projects in India's most cosmopolitan cities - Mumbai (Bombay), New Delhi and Chennai (Madras).
Each project will include a hotel, apartments or condos, retail and entertainment and will cost about $100 million to $130 million, said Portman, who has completed dozens of projects in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
The hotels, which will cater to business travelers with high-tech amenities, will carry the brand names of the Indian partner and have 200 to 500 rooms each.
Portman would not identify his Indian partner, since the deal is pending approval by India's foreign investment board, but said the agreement is roughly a 50-50 split in ownership. The project in Mumbai is slated to be the first of the three, though the time frame is uncertain because of the pending approval, Portman said.
Entering a market
Portman, who is a graduate of Georgia Tech and Harvard University, is the son of architect and developer John Portman. The younger Portman said he is eager to tap into India.
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