Sri Lanka’s landmark real estate icon Altair opens

Altair Colombo, known for its unique and acclaimed architectural value and as a striking landmark redefining the skyline of Colombo, was ceremoniously declared open on Wednesday by Prime Minister (PM) Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The ceremonial opening of the iconic residential towers denotes the epitome of positive and expedient economic backing of neighbouring India to Sri Lanka, with Altair notably being the biggest FDI investment in Colombo for real estate to date and the only FDI investment of its calibre, from the South City Group of Kolkata, an Indian investor in Sri Lanka. 

Altair, therefore, is truly a symbol and a showpiece of the foreign investment potential in the real estate industry in Sri Lanka for all enthusiastic investors around the globe, in the backdrop of the ongoing real estate boom. 

Alongside PM Rajapaksa, the grand opening of Altair was held under the auspices of Special Guest Minister of Youth and Sports, Minister of Development Co-ordination and Monitoring and State Minister of Digital Technology and Enterprise Development Namal Rajapaksa, Guest of Honour Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay, Minister Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, Altair Project Special Authorised Officer Sirinimal Perera, Directors and shareholders of South City Projects Kolkata Ltd. Sushil Mohta, Jugal Khetawat, Rajendra Bachhawat and Prakash Bachhawat and Indocean Developers Ltd. Director Manmohan Bagree.

The event also exemplifies that customers are now able to initiate the fit-outs of the apartments through a phased-out schedule with the total sold apartments ready to be handed over within the next few weeks. 

Since there were architectural and engineering challenges that encompassed the creation of the unique edifice, the construction and finishing of Altair posed many complexities which affected construction schedules. Therefore, as the main developer, Indocean Ltd., the local subsidy of the world-renowned South City Projects (Kolkata) Ltd., expressed its delight over the acceleration of the project progress in the last few months especially amidst the COVID-19 pandemic due to the significant support extended by the Government of Sri Lanka.

The breath-taking real estate masterpiece is a creative magnum opus of living legend Moshe Safdie, creator of Marina Bay Sands and the Jewel in Singapore and many other icons. Altair comprises 404 luxurious apartments spread across 1.5 million square feet on 68 floors with ventilation, light and privacy and optimally laid out living spaces as its design guidance. 

With the full completion and the commencement of the handover process, Indocean Developers is confident that the lifestyle facelift that Altair would bring into Sri Lanka with a sophisticated brand experience would become a true value addition to the vibrant cosmopolitan lifestyle in new Colombo.