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Moumita Bakshi

New Delhi , May 1

WHERE else can malls get assured footfalls of youngsters with a well-exposed lifestyle and a high spending power than at an IT park?

Mixing business with leisure seems to be the latest mantra among real estate developers across the country who are looking at IT parks as catchment areas for malls and shopping complexes.

"Across the country, where there is a large BPO and IT space - like in IT parks - shopping malls have a huge potential to thrive on. So retail space is now being created within IT parks. DLF is creating such malls across the country. One is coming up at the Chandigarh IT Park and another at Rajarhaat in Kolkata where IT development is catching up," Mr Ajay Khanna, Executive Director, DLF Retail Developers Ltd, said.

DLF is also evaluating two or three more similar proposals in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai, but these plans are yet to fructify.

Locating malls within or near IT Parks not only offers IT professionals the convenience of shopping near the workplace, but also provides developers and retail brands committed footfalls.

"These are young people with high disposable income, starting from Rs 25,000 by most conservative estimates. Hence this retail space becomes a strong catchment area for utility and lifestyle shopping by IT professionals," said Mr Khanna, adding that these malls have the potential to attract apparel brands and household goods companies.

Parsvnath Developers has planned six metro malls in Delhi of which one in Seelampur is coming up near the proposed Delhi IT Park. "We see the park adding to the footfalls," said Ms Rema Menon, Head - Retail, Parsvnath. She said such malls are likely to attract eating joints, fast moving product companies, apparel brands and gift stores.

According to Mr Dinesh Chandiok, CEO and ED, Ansal Properties and Infrastructure Ltd, while there is retail demand in IT parks, shopping complexes rather than big malls are likely to come up. "I feel IT parks will not have glamorous or fancy malls. They will be more functional and utilitarian. For instance, they may not house designer stores, but instead have food courts, bookstores and apparel brands," he said.

Ansal is on the verge of announcing its new IT park project at Greater Noida, with all amenities needed by IT professionals at work, including a shopping complex. The retail space is likely to occupy 5-7 per cent of the total IT park area, said Mr Chandiok.

"IT parks will have a retail space, and not merely because IT professionals have a huge spending power. The issue is that IT and BPO industry has a high attrition rate, and hence companies need to provide employees a convenient environment to work," he said.

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