Nexus Select Trust, a listed retail Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) backed by Blackstone, has agreed to acquire a 50 per cent stake in the under-construction Nexus Runwal Gardens Mall in Dombivli in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The transaction is the REIT's first strategic tie-up for an under-construction development since listing and will see the asset operated in partnership with Runwal Enterprises. The proposed mall will offer approximately 0.73 million (mn) sq ft of gross leasable area (GLA) and will be developed through a special purpose vehicle alongside Runwal's development. The structure allows the REIT to participate in long-term value creation while retaining operational control and maintaining capital discipline. The scheme is located at the entry to Runwal Garden City township, which is planned to comprise about 30,000 residential units, with nearly 5,000 families already residing within the development and creating an embedded consumption base. The asset is positioned within a rapidly transforming infrastructure corridor that includes Metro connectivity with Manpada station roughly 100 metres away, the Airoli–Katai tunnel, a Mumbai–Ahmedabad bullet train station within two km and the Virar–Alibaug multimodal corridor. Nexus Select Trust's Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer described the tie-up as the start of a new chapter and said it extended the strategy into a structurally de-risked opportunity backed by a strong township ecosystem and transformational connectivity. He noted that over the past decade the group had scaled from two malls to 19 institutional-grade retail assets across the country through disciplined acquisitions and operational focus. Runwal Enterprises' chairman indicated that the partnership reflected a long-term commitment to creating integrated, future-ready communities anchored by robust retail infrastructure, and that the scale of Runwal Garden City together with connectivity projects positioned the development to serve a fast-growing consumption corridor. The parties expect the mall to establish a benchmark for large-format retail in emerging urban corridors and to create sustained value for brands, consumers and unitholders.