The Hindu Business Line : Kolkata real estate still in doldrums

AMIDST talk that Kolkata's real estate market is once again getting into the active mode, a lot of newly developed commercial space seems to have no takers. Or so feels a section of developers, worried as they are that the market will soon get deflated.

Lansdowne Road and Camac Street, two of the city's busiest areas, are said to have witnessed a lot of rejections from prospective buyers of property in the recent past.

Both areas have seen a number of new buildings come up, some of them built by reputed builders.

Included among those that have refrained from renting or buying, even after making preliminary scrutiny, are corporate houses, including a couple of leading PSUs.

]Most of them are headquartered outside Kolkata, but wanted property for themselves in the city.

Some of the older commercial units are already under-utilised, and the latest experience could add to that worry. In some of these poorly utilised buildings (which dot the skyline in all sorts of commercial areas), entire floors are known to have remained empty.

The trend, city-based real estate sources maintain, could put off financiers and knock off potential sources of funds. It could also have other spin-off effects.

For instance, firms that seek to provide value-added commercial services will lose business. For the owners concerned, there will be considerable carrying costs, at least till the time the properties get rented out or earn revenues in any other form.

As sources recall, the city had lately managed to attract some leading big-ticket developers, including such firms as Larsen & Toubro. And the latter's property at Camac Street is soon expected to become a landmark in the neighbour- hood.

The scenario strikes a discordant note when compared to developments on the non-commercial front. Residential property in Kolkata is being developed at breakneck speed, and a new breed of developers are doing brisk business. This breed includes older names like Ambuja as well as late entrants like NK and United Credit-Bellany.

Among the newer property users in the city are small- to medium-sized IT firms, banks, restaurants and insurance companies.

A number of private-sector insurance outfits, despite having local affiliates, have taken space in newly developed buildings.

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