PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Sri Lanka) shortlists the country’s best developers of 2017

Sri Lanka’s most outstanding developers will compete in Asia’s most prestigious regional real estate tilt to be held in Singapore this November

• Sri Lanka debuts in the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards Grand Final with nine shortlisted companies competing in the condominium, residential and commercial categories
• A full domestic awards programme to be held in Colombo planned for 2018

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – 4 September 2017

PropertyGuru, Asia’s foremost online property company, has named the final shortlist of nominees for the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Sri Lanka) 2017 across the condominium, residential and commercial categories.

Sri Lanka joins the esteemed PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards series for the first time in its 12-year-history as the programme expands to emerging markets this year to recognise Asia’s finest real estate developers.

Leading the finalists are Home Lands Skyline (Pvt) Ltd and Blue Ocean, scoring three places in the shortlist each. Vertical living specialist Home Lands Skyline collects two shortlists in the condo categories, while Blue Ocean, a part of one of the island’s largest conglomerates, takes two Design nods. The two firms are also up for special awards in corporate social responsibility or sustainable development.

Two-time nominees D.P Jayasinghe’s and M/S Widac Commercial Interiors (Pvt) Ltd.both earn citations in the office categories. According to a recent report byJLL Sri Lanka, the market expects a strong demand for Grade-A office spaces as the local government ramps up infrastructure improvement projects as well as interest from foreign investors rises.

In the residential categories, Capital Trust collects two nominations, while Shangri-La, Grand Capital Residencies, Blue Mountain, and Balmond Studio round up the shortlist with one nod each.

Under the supervision of BDO, the world’s fifth largest auditing and accounting firm, the nine shortlisted Sri Lankan developers and 12 developments were chosen in the last six months by an independent panel of judges comprising six industry experts led by chairmanDr Nirmal De Silva, co-founder and CEO of Paramount Realty.

“I am pleased with the enthusiasm shown by local developers to participate in the inaugural PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Sri Lanka) edition. It exemplifies their commitment to be recognised amongst the best at a regional level. I have been impressed with the design, functionality and processors put in place by the local developers during the site visit stage of the programme. Overall, it is evident that we are reaching world-class standards in the local real estate sphere.”

De Silva’s colleagues on the judging panel are Stephanie Balendra (Director, SB Realtors (Private) Limited); Roshan Madawela (Director and Founding CEO, Research Intelligence Unit); Emeritus Prof. Chitra Weddikkra (Managing Director, QServe Pte Ltd); Steven Mayes (Managing Director, JLL Sri Lanka); and Sanjana Fernando (CEO, Wolvert Apartments).

Sri Lankan developers will be honoured during the seventh annual gala dinner of the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards Grand Final to be held on Wednesday, 8 November 2017, at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore.

Domestic winners from Sri Lanka will also compete later that same evening with other Asian markets for regional accolades, including categories for the Best Developer, Best Mixed Use Development and Best Condo Development in Asia.

Terry Blackburn, founder and managing director of the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards, said: “It is important for Sri Lanka to have a detailed and respected awards programme that sets a benchmark for recognising quality real estate in the country. We are delighted to introduce our awards series that is known across the region for fair judgement and transparency of process to Sri Lanka.”

Because of the positive reception of local developers for the Sri Lankan tilt, Blackburn said that PropertyGuru has planned to hold a domestic gala dinner and ceremony in 2018 with an expanded awards scheme to include more than 20 categories – up from this year’s 13 – covering various segments to represent the best real estate on the entire island.

Presented by title sponsor Kohler, the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards 2017 gala dinner in Singapore is supported by co-sponsors Regus and Mitsubishi Electric; official portal partner PropertyGuru.com.sg; official portal partner in Sri Lanka, Lankapropertyweb.com; official South Korea newspaper Korea Economic Times; media partners Oxford Business Group, Southeast Asia GLOBE, Realestate.com.kh, and PropertyGuru Property Report; and official supervisor BDO.

The PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards 2017 takes place alongside the two-day PropertyGuru Asia Real Estate Summit, a top-level networking conference for C-level executives and industry leaders to discuss the future of Asia’s dynamic property sector to be attended by more than 100 delegates and global speakers.

Full shortlist of the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Sri Lanka) 2017:

DEVELOPER CATEGORY

Best Developer

• WINNER will be revealed on 8 November 2017 during the gala dinner in Singapore

DEVELOPMENT CATEGORIES

Best Condo Development (Colombo)

• Capital Trust Residences: Vajira Road by Capital Trust
• Treasure Trive Residences by Home Lands Skyline (Pvt) Ltd

Best Residential Development (Greater Colombo)

• Grand Capital Residence by Grand Capital Residencies
• Green Valley by Home Lands Skyline (Pvt) Ltd

Best Office Development

• Construction and Completion of Show Room and Office Building for Mr. D.U.Jayasinghe at No 288, Sri Jayawardanapura Mawatha, Kotte, Sri Lanka by D.P Jayasinghe’s
• Construction and Completion of Show Room and Office Building for Mr. D.U.Jayasinghe at No 717, Baseline Road, Colombo 09, Sri Lanka by D.P Jayasinghe’s

Best Mixed Use Development

• One Galle Face by Shangri-La

DESIGN CATEGORIES

Best Condo Architectural Design

• Achilleion by Blue Mountain
• King Alfred Palace by Blue Ocean

Best Hotel Architectural Design

• Jetwing Surf, Pottuvil Point by Balmond Studio

Best Residential Interior Design

• Capital Trust Residences: Vajira Road by Capital Trust
• King Alfred Palace by Blue Ocean

Best Office Interior Design

• Huawei Technologies Lanka Company Pvt Ltd by M/S Widac Commercial Interiors (Pvt) Ltd.
• Regus by M/S Widac Commercial Interiors (Pvt) Ltd.

SPECIAL AWARDS CATEGORIES

Special Recognition in CSR

• Home Lands Skyline (Pvt) Ltd

Special Recognition in Sustainable Development

• Blue Ocean

BEST OF SRI LANKA CATEGORIES

Best Condo Development (Sri Lanka)

• WINNER to be selected from Condo category winners and announced on 8 November 2017 during the gala dinner in Singapore

Best Housing Development (Sri Lanka)

• WINNER to be announced on 8 November 2017 during the gala dinner in Singapore

For more information about the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Sri Lanka), email info@asiapropertyawards.com or visit the official website: AsiaPropertyAwards.com

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About PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards:

The PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards, the region’s biggest and most prestigious real estate awards series, is recognised as the ultimate hallmark of industry excellence in the Asian property sector. Boasting an independent panel of industry experts and trusted supervisors, the Awards has an unparalleled reputation for being credible, fair and transparent.

Established in Thailand in 2005 to ‘recognise the region’s finest in real estate’, the Awards acknowledge, reward and celebrate the extraordinary achievements of developers and developments at a domestic and regional level. The Awards is a milestone event in the real estate industry calendar and is attended by key decision makers as well as esteemed trade and consumer media. Annually, the Awards covers 17 key markets in the Asian continent via a series of domestic gala ceremonies, hosting up to 600 senior industry figures, to recognise excellence within each Asian market, culminating in a Grand Final at the end of the year.

In 2017, the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards celebrates its 12th anniversary, and features nine domestic gala ceremonies in eight countries: Cambodia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. The Awards series has also been expanded this year to include categories for Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Mongolia, Laos, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and South Korea.

Domestic winners from these 17 markets will then advance to the final round and compete for regional awards. The regional winners will be announced on the night of the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards Grand Final to be held in Singapore on 8 November 2017.

For more information, please visit AsiaPropertyAwards.com

About PropertyGuru Group:

PropertyGuru Group is Asia’s foremost online property company. Voted by consumers in 2016 as ‘Asia’s Most Influential Brand for Online Property Search’, PropertyGuru helps over 16 million people find their dream home – every month.

Headquartered in Singapore, PropertyGuru.com.sg was launched in 2007 by two entrepreneurs. They had a vision to simplify the property search process and help renters, buyers, sellers and investors make confident property decisions – faster.

Today, it has grown from being a media company to a high-growth technology company. Beyond operating a suite of No.1 property portals and award-winning mobile apps, the Group also manages a host of industry-leading property offerings such as publications, events, awards and a project marketing technology platform – across eight countries in Asia.

For more information, please visit www.propertyguru.com