LIFE in the ’BURBS

LIFE in the ’BURBS
The Economic Times, March 22, 2009, Page 8

With core city areas becoming increasingly unaffordable, suburban living is attracting more and more young Indian professionals. So which is the best suburb and which could do better? Neha Dewan finds out

They are increasingly being touted as the most liveable residential hubs of India. Offering the luxury of sprawling greens, spacious developments and ‘value for money’ homes — suburbs are emerging as a popular buyer preference like never before. What has also helped in their success saga over the last few years has been the skyrocketing real estate prices in core city areas coupled with low supply. Suburban living is fast catching up as the preference among a host of home buyers, and these satellite towns are being touted as the future growth drivers of real estate in India.

But are suburbs as promising as they are made out to be? While many of them boast of offering wide-ranging facilities, not all have well-planned infrastructure and accessibility. So which are the most liveable of the lot?

SundayET commissioned a survey to global real estate consultancy Cushman and Wakefield (C&W) and spoke to industry experts and developers to find out the best suburbs in the top six cities. And here’s what we got.

While Gurgaon and Noida around Delhi came up as the most liveable of the lot, it was Navi Mumbai and Thane which have grown tremendously over the years. Rajarhat’s convenient proximity to the airport makes it a sought after suburb of Kolkata while it is the significant commercial developments in Whitefield and the Outer Ring Road stretch of Bangalore that have made these locations well-desired by a host of business professionals. The diverse availability of residential units catering to low, mid as well as high-income population has made Hyderabad’s Kukatpally-Miyapur stretch a huge success. Whereas it has been a fast pace of development on the Grand Southern Trunk Road (GST Road) on the outskirts of Chennai that makes it an attractive bet.

From a consumer’s perspective, these suburbs have become a better option due to availability of quality housing, more affordable pricing, larger spaces, value for money and a decent living standard. Says Shveta Jain,national head, residential services, Cushman & Wakefield India, “In the last five years, the satellite towns have witnessed an increase in real estate activity. And given the development of new office destinations in close proxmity as well as the unaffordable property prices prevalent in the cities, they have become an apparent choice of end-users.”

DELHI Gurgaon & Noida

Take the case of Gurgaon in Delhi NCR. One of the major destinations for IT/ITES, BPOs, KPOs and corporate offices, it has nearly become a residential haven due to easy proximity to workplaces. The growth across sectors has led to a demographic shift towards a younger, more cosmopolitan and affluent population driving the demand for newly constructed residential apartments and condominiums. The suburb is also famous for pioneering the shopping mall concept in NCR and continues to offer high retail development possibilities. However, the main challenge limiting Gurgaon is the connectivity to other parts of NCR. Lack of proper infrastructure planning and inadequate public transportation are some of the constraints here.

The New Okhla Industrial Development Authority, better known as Noida, on the other hand, is considered to be one of the better planned suburbs as it is one of the best
connected NCR towns of Delhi. Excellent infrastructure and connectivity to Delhi makes it an attractive location.

Even though demand is subdued right now owing to the market sentiments, developers feel that these suburbs are the best options that an end-user can avail of. “They have better infrastructure than the main city areas. Noida and Gurgaon are the most established ones of the lot. They are both destination of the NRIs. The demand right now in these areas is slow but firm. However, these are the areas which will grow the most once sentiments perk up,” feels Rohtas Goel, CMD, Omaxe. The developer has existing projects in Noida where they are offering reduced rates. While Grandwood in Noida is priced at Rs 4,200/ sq ft, Twin Towers are available for Rs 5,000/ sq ft.

MUMBAI Navi Mumbai/Thane

If Noida and Gurgaon are seen as NRI destinations, Navi Mumbai and Thane near Mumbai are not far behind in emerging as profitable destinations, most of the developers and consultants who we spoke to confirmed. While Thane ranks high on general infrastructure, affordability and workplace catchment, Navi Mumbai is coming up in a big way due to its planning, a distinct culture as well as lifestyle. “Property rates in Navi Mumbai are favourable, and there is a good range to choose from as well,” says Anuj Puri, chairman and country head, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM). Narendra Lodha, senior veep, sales, Kalpataru, however, is of the view that the central suburb of Ghatkopar has a stronger potential to grow in the days to come as there is an influx of real estate, retail, IT parks, availability of more office-space and better connectivity to different parts of Mumbai. Powai in the northern suburb of Mumbai has also grown tremendously in the past decade.

KOLKATA Rajarhat & Narendrapur

More than the infrastructure and commercial activities, it is the convenient locations of the suburbs of Kolkata — Rajarhat and Garia & Narendrapur which makes them viable residential spots. While Rajarhat is located near the NSC Bose International Airport, Garia and Narendrapur located on the southern fringes of Kolkata city are close to thee Eastern Metropolitan Bypass. Rajarhat, however, is yet to have basic infrastructure in place. Real estate majors such as DLF, Unitech, Shapoorji Pallonji have major residential and commercial developments lined up here. Notable new projects include Ujjwala, Rosedale and Symphony among others with prices ranging from Rs 2,700-Rs 3,300/ sq ft. Garia and Narendrapur, on the other hand, have basic infrastructure facilities, notable among them being the Metro Railway extension which is underway and will extend from Tollygunge to Garia. Presently the location boasts of significant residential projects such as Sherwood Estates, Mayfair Greens and Sunny Dew among others with prices ranging from Rs 1,500-Rs 2,000 per sq ft. Developers feel that people are choosing to move away from conventional residential options. “People are moving to organised, suburban developments where their money is able to buy them much more and have every urban convenience with greater lifestyle. Inner city options are far more expensive and have little to offer by way of a lifestyle,” says Riverbank Holdings’ MD Sumit Dabriwala. Others such as Pradip Kumar Chopra, PS Group chairman & managing director, are of the view that developers are increasingly looking to offer value for money services at their residential complexes in suburbs.

BANGALORE Whitefield/Outer Ring Road

Moving on to south, suburbs of Bangalore such as Whitefield and Outer Ring Road (Marathahalli - Sarjapur stretch) have witnessed significant commercial developments, making them lucrative locations. However while public transport facilities in the micro-market offer excellent connectivity with the rest of the city, accessibility remains a concern. Like Whitefield, the Outer Ring Road (Marathahalli - Sarjapur stretch) has ongoing initiatives to improve the physical infrastructure. This micro market is dominated by apartments with developers such as Sobha Developers, Mantri and Purvankara offering affordable prices after the recent corrections.

CHENNAI GST/OMR

Unlike the suburbs of Bangalore, the Grand Southern Trunk (GST) Road and Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) of Chennai are high on the accessibility factor. The Industrial belts such as Maraimalai Nagar, Padappai and Oragadam makes living along the GST road convenient. The major advantage is the road and rail transport which connects Chengalpettu to the Port. IT professionals experiencing pay cuts have also now started taking interest in the area because of relatively affordable rentals with better connectivity. Appaswamy Real Estates COO T S S Krishnan, feels that the GST corridor, in particular, is excellent in terms of infrastructure whether it be road or rail network. The other emerging suburb is OMR, a 35-km IT corridor running south from Adyar in Chennai. The frenetic development on the OMR has so far been office space for the IT/ITES sectors. With the IT corridor expected to generate over 30,000 new jobs annually, the need to offer retail and entertainment facilities in the vicinity is kicking off. Disadvantages, however, do exist. Water has been a problem on this stretch with metro water not available. The road is also not well-connected by rail with only MTC buses and rickshaws being the alternatives for public transport. Says Akshaya Homes chairman Chitty Babu, “GST and OMR are two suburban corridors, where there is considerable interest among home buyers. With the Mahindra City fully operational, customers are evaluating these locations seriously. At GST, prices would go up from Rs 3,000/sq ft to Rs 3,500/sq ft while at OMR, they are expected to rise from the current Rs 3,500/ sq ft to Rs 4,000/sq ft.”

HYDERABAD Kukatpally-Miyapur

But it is the diversity of residential units catering to the low income group (LIG), middle income group (MIG) as well as high income group (HIG) population which makes the Kukatpally-Miyapur stretch of Hyderabad well known. The Kukatpally and Miyapur region stretching 4 to 5 kilometres along the NH-9 have gained prominence due to overall real estate activities. This stretch is also a retail high street with presence of various apparel, food and grocery retailers. However, commercial office and hospitality infrastructure availability is very minimal in these localities. Connectivity will remain a future growth driver for this location with the proposed Mass Rapid Transit Systems (MRTS) with its depot in Miyapur. George Johnson, city head, JLLM, says that Kukatpally is one of the dominant suburbs existent. “The supply pipeline is good here, which indicates that this area will grow consistently in attractiveness and locational value. The property rates here were on the high side until recently –however, both affordable and high-end housing is now available. The rates in Kukatpalli range roughly between Rs 2,000-Rs 3,500/sq ft.”

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Internationally, the concept of suburban living stands in sharp contrast to that of India. These locations are formed and defined on the basis of road-travel time from the inner city. The concept of a parent city that spawns satellite cities is very distinct, with such cities located anywhere between 25-50 kilometres from the parent city. Says Puri of JLLM, “Typically, such satellite cities are self–sufficient in almost all respects pertaining to lifestyle and social amenities. This cannot be said for Indian suburbs, which cannot be segregated from the parent city. Indian suburbs are extensions of the parent city.” There is also a clear segregation of residential spaces from the commercial in international suburbs unlike in India. But here too, the peripheries are evolving as major residential destinations. And even though many of these established suburbs have challenges ahead, the journey to better living has just begun.

With inputs from Anuradha Himatsingka in Kolkata, Hemamalini Venkatraman in Chennai, Trushna Udgirkar in Hyderabad & Nandini Raghavendra in Mumbai